Keys of Obsidian and Bone
by Kilanna D
Summary: When Master Makarov finally brings Fairy Tail back together, Lucy expects more of the same old. When the Thunder God Tribe finds a solid black Celestial Spirit Key, she's a little curious. When it brings a spirit from somewhere not the Celestial Spirit World, she's a lot worried. She ends up traveling with the Tribe to find the rest of these Keys that lead to Shinigami.
1. Chapter 1

**I... have no excuse. There's no reason for me to be posting this. Like, this has been sitting in my WIP folder for ages since the plot bunny popped up a while ago. The thing is, I have three clear parts of this in my head, and I had planned to wait until at least the first one was done before posting. Or, you know, at least until L'appel was finished. Which it will be. When I return to the HP fandom. Eventually. Other things I should be working on include my One Piece Big Bang fic. So expect that in April.**  
**DO NOT EXPECT QUICK UPDATES. TBH, I have a solid 35,000 written for this that only covers the first arc, after which things should, in theory, pick up and go a little quicker. This first part should be around 70,000 ish. Despite all of these things, I'm not expecting to post regularly until I have the first part actually finished. Expect chapters as the mood hits.**  
**THINGS YOU ACTUALLY NEED TO KNOW; this takes place after the one year timeskip. The Alvarez thing didn't happen. Basically, after a year, Natsu shows up like in canon and starts bringing the gang together, but before the whole conversation-about-Ilumine Histoire thing, Makarov shows up and just takes up as Guild Master. I think everything else is covered in the chapter, but let me know if anything is confusing.**

**(See the end of the work for more notes.)**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Gold, the Silver... and the Black**

_I always thought I knew everything about being a Celestial Spirit mage. Sure, I didn't have all twelve Golden Keys, and there would always be room to improve, but I thought myself a good mage. Not really strong, but at least capable. Especially after I learned to access my Star Dresses._

_My mother taught me everything I know. She's the reason I have the magic I do, she gave me my first Key, just like her mother before her. I didn't learn this until long after she died, but the Heartfilia family has always been known for their Celestial Magic. I like to think we always took care of the Keys in our possession. The Gold, the Silver… and the Black._

_Turns out, you should never assume you know anything. I always believed that there were two types of Keys. Learning I was wrong… was an experience. I've written lots of things in my life, most of which will never see the light of day. But I leave this story in writing so that future generations might know what I've learned._

_I've tried to plan out how to tell this tale, but I never quite managed a solid outline, or more than a few note points. Now, as I put pen to paper, I've realized this is not the type of story you could plan out. All the information I need is in my mind, and the minds of my companions. All the notes I need are their recollections._

_I will try to explain all the facts first and foremost, and I believe that an outside perspective will help carry these across the best. It is for this reason that, besides these few notes, I will attempt to withhold my personal thoughts of the following events._

_For anyone who comes across this book, or any mage that finds the Obsidian and Bone Keys, all I ask is this; learn from my story._

_-Lucy Heartfilia, Matriarch of the Heartfilia family, Celestial Spirit Mage, and Protector of the Soul Keys._

* * *

"Please tell me it's over," Evergreen panted.

"I'm so done," Bickslow added, rubbing his eyes, dull as they were with his Seith magic deactivated.

"Laxus," Freed asked, turning to the leader of their team. "Are you alright?" Laxus, coated in sweat and blood just like the rest of them, nodded as he took a deep breath.

"You guys?" Affirmations came from all around. With a relieved sigh, Laxus Dreyar stood to his full height in the dim cave. His team, the Thunder God Tribe, had been requested for an S-Class mission to clear out a nest of wyverns. Turns out, the wyverns weren't just scarily strong, they were also in mating season and absolutely vicious. Nothing compared to a nesting mother and her mate.

The cavern, large and imposing, had multiple tunnels leading off. Laxus had no doubt that there was another exit, beasts always had a backup plan, but the issue now was finding it. Stupid scaled turkeys, collapsing the main door.

Laxus allowed his team a few minutes of rest, Freed taking the time to apply simple healing runes to hold them over until they could get actual treatment. Not that the tiny, backwater village hidden deep in the winter mountains on the northern coast of Fiore had anything more than a basic physician, but Laxus would take what he could get until they got back home to Magnolia.

"Right," Evergreen forced herself to her feet, shaking off Bickslow when he offered his arm. "Which way?" Lifting his face, Laxus took a few deep breaths, searching for the frigid wind of the outdoors.

"This way."

The passageway that smelled the most of cold winds seemed to go on forever, leading deeper into the anthill of tunnels.

"Laxus…" Evergreen said lowly.

"This doesn't seem to lead out. But I know what I smell and there is definitely some source of fresh air down here." Ever fell silent, knowing that a dragon slayer's senses were far superior to a normal mage's. Even from this far out, Laxus could easily discern the scent of fresh snow and bitter wind, from the stale air and flat stone that surrounded the team.

It didn't take much longer for them to come to another large opening. This cave, however, was covered in a thick layer of ice, pale blue and nearly glowing in the faint light. As they all stepped forward, their breath began misting in the air, goosebumps rising on their flesh.

Evergreen shivered, arms rubbing her exposed shoulders. "There has to be an exit around here somewhere, what with how cold it is."

Freed stepped towards one of the walls, nodding absentmindedly. His hand dusted over the ice-covered stone, murmuring under his breath.

"Freed," Laxus commanded sharply, "Stay close. I don't like this."

Freed nodded lightly, though he continued on his path. "Freed," Bickslow added.

"These marking… I don't recognize them."

"Markings?" Ever asked. They all took a few steps closer to the walls, squinting to see that, yes, small figures were carved into the ice, each glistening like gems, swirls and sharp angles frozen in place. "Wow, they're beautiful."

"And I have no idea at what they may indicate," Freed added, voice dipped low in surprise.

Laxus gave a sigh, having experienced this brand of 'new discovery' when it came to Freed before. "Take a few rubbings of them, if you can. Or copy them down. We don't have time to hang around."

Freed nodded eagerly, pulling out several pieces of paper.

"Uh, Laxus?" Bickslow called from the other end of the room.

"Damn it, Bix. I thought I said to stick together."

"Yeah, yeah. You might want to see this though." "See this. See this." His dolls, one missing from the previous battle, echoed quietly.

When Laxus stepped closer to Bix, he immediately took notice of what his comrade meant. The ice here stood thicker, the air colder- if that was even possible. There, in the center of the far wall, a statue rose from the ground. A dragon, more serpentine and with no legs but a dragon nonetheless, carved out of a thick block of ice, the maw gaping open in a roar facing towards the ceiling. The interesting part, if one considered the detailed ice figure uninteresting, was what laid inside the dragon's mouth.

"Is that…?" Laxus asked, vaguely recognizing the shape.

"I think so. But aren't they only supposed to be gold or silver?"

"Hey, Freed!" Said mage turned from where he copied markings furiously. His eye twitched at the interruption, but he didn't dare ignore Laxus again. "What do you know about Celestial Gate Keys?"

He blinked, before answering, "Not much, I'm afraid. There are very few writings on the magic and even less mages. There are two types of keys, the average Silver Keys, and the twelve Golden Zodiac Keys."

"So, nothing about black keys?" Bickslow asked, pushing his visor higher onto his head when it nearly fell back over his eyes as he eyed the shiny black metal.

"No. Why?"

"Well," Bix reached forward, going for the Key to show his teammate when a sudden vibration shook the cavern, small pieces of ice tumbling to the ground. To the right, the entire wall shifted, the white ice moving into a clear form.

"Wyvern!" Evergreen called, her fairy wings appearing in a shower of light. Strange black key forgotten, the Thunder God Tribe launched into battle. It quickly became apparent, however, that the mages were worse for wear. Evergreen had received a serious head injury earlier in the evening when they were fighting the original wyvern nest and her aim was off. Bickslow had lost one of his dolls and Freed's magic was already extremely depleted.

After barely avoiding a slash of claws that radiated cold, Laxus growled before calling out, "Freed! I need a high-powered cage or something. We can't keep this up."

"I need time!"

"Bix, cover him while he writes his runes, Ever, distract the beast for me!" Shouts of acknowledgement went through the air and they quickly fell into their roles. Laxus fell back a pace, making Evergreen the center target. When the wyvern's head followed her towards the cavern's vaulted ceiling, Laxus took a single step forward before letting loose a Lightning Roar. Shooting forward, lightning at his feet propelling him faster, Laxus slammed into the wyvern with a Lightning Claw attack, jumping back quickly as to avoid Evergreen's Fairy Bomb. Ice shavings rose, a few large junks flying into the air. Evergreen floated higher, her breathing labored. She could feel her magic falling dangerously low. Laxus, leaving nothing to chance, summoned another bolt of lightning from the sky to straight the creature.

"Freed," she called, "Tell me you're almost done!"

"A few more seconds!"

There was another roar, and Laxus covered his sensitive ears even as the air vibrated with the power. The wyvern stood, only a few cuts marring its otherwise perfect white scales. Stronger than the others. So much stronger. In a flash, the beast lunged towards Laxus, jaw open wide. With an arc of light, he teleported behind the creature, his claws slashing over thick plated scales. Faster than Laxus could react, the wyvern lashed its tail into Laxus's stomach. He hit the wall of the cave, the room shaking at the force.

"We don't have a few more seconds!" Ever screamed, drawing the wyvern's attention once again as it clawed at her.

"Lead it over here!" Freed screeched, leaning heavily on Bickslow. With a swirl of dust, Ever made a tight turn and raced towards her teammates, Laxus, back on his feet, close on their heels. When the wyvern landed within a few feet of Freed, he swiped his sword one last time and a flare of purple light filled the cavern. When the light cleared, the wyvern was collapsed to the ground and Freed was unconscious in Bickslow's arms.

"Is he alright?" Ever panted.

"Just magically depleted."

"What rules did he set?" Laxus asked.

"'Any wyvern within this field will die'."

"That idiot," Laxus snarled lowly, eyes riveted to his unconscious teammate. "He was already low on power, an absolute rule like that could've killed him."

"We didn't have much choice," Bix snapped back. Laxus fought back his own growl. Now was not the time. They were all tired and injured and they needed to get Freed to some place where he could rest safely.

"Guys," they turned to Evergreen, who pointed to their right. "Look." Where the wyvern had once been, a wide space opened. Outside, the wind howled but the sky was clear and bright with the sunrise. They'd been in the cave for the entire night.

In silent agreement, they all made their way out of the cavern, Laxus stopping only to pick up the strange black key. Whatever it was, there seemed no reason to leave it behind.

* * *

Lucy Heartfilia enjoyed a perfectly peaceful day off, for once. Ever since Master Makarov had reopened Fairy Tail, missions with requests for specific mages had been pouring in. It reminded Lucy a lot of the time after the Grand Magic Games. Even Lucy received a few. Still, Erza, Natsu, and Gray received even more. Often, they'd ask her to join them even if she wasn't mentioned on the request. Sometimes though, she enjoyed just taking a day to do laundry and get some writing done.

Of course, her peaceful morning was interrupted by a knock on her door. Confused, as everyone that usually came to her home never knocked and were all on missions at the moment, she opened the door slowly. When she caught sight of who it was, her face brightened, though the confusion didn't lesson.

"Laxus! Freed, Evergreen, Bickslow! What are you guys doing here?"

"We came across something on our last quest," Freed said after they'd all exchanged quiet greetings. "We were hoping to speak with you about it."

"Of course. Come in and I'll make some tea." She stepped back from the doorway, closing the door behind her guildmates. They each took in the modest apartment. After they had all settled down and Lucy had served them drinks, Freed launched right into it.

"We found a Celestial Spirit Key, but we are unsure of which it is."

"A key?!" Lucy visibly brightened, back going straight. "Silver or Gold?"

"That's just the thing, it's black."

"Black?" Lucy's eyes darted to all their faces, wondering if this was a joke. But, no. They all looked perfectly serious. Not to mention, Laxus never seemed the type for a practical joke. "I've never heard of a black Celestial Key." Laxus reached into the pocket of his large coat, handing over the Key they'd found in the ice cave.

Lucy's ran her hands over it, fingering the large '10' that sat where the constellation usually fell. Hard, shiny, and indeed a very deep, almost purple, black, it seemed like a Key. "Strange…" she murmured. "It feels similar to a Gate Key, but somehow… off."

"Off how?" Lucy startled at Evergreen's question. She hummed as she contemplated how best to describe what she felt.

"Most Celestial Keys give off a kind of magic energy that resonates with my own core, letting me know that they are available to make a contract. This one seems to… I don't know, rub against my core? Dance around my body?" She shook her head at how she sounded. "It's hard to describe."

"Does that mean it's not available?" Lucy shook her head again at Laxus.

"That's not the feeling I'm getting from it." She hesitated before asking quietly, "Do you guys mind if I get one of my other Spirits to look at this?"

"Go ahead, Blondie."

Lucy rolled her eyes at the nickname but pulled a Silver Key from her belt. "Open, gate of the Southern Cross, Crumudgeon!" In a flash of silver light, a gray cross floated in the air above the sitting area that they occupied.

"How can I help, Miss Lucy?"

"Hey, Grandpa Crux. What can you tell me about this black key?"

"Black…?" The Spirit eyed the upheld Key blankly for a moment before his eyes widened and he leaned away.

"Miss Lucy, where did you find an Obsidian Gate Key?!"

"It was found in an ice cave on the northern coast," Laxus put in quickly, eyes watching both Lucy and her Spirit closely.

"Did you just call it obsidian?" Freed added.

Grandpa Crux side eyed the guests before facing Lucy. "You know I can't say too much, Miss Lucy. Especially with other mages present."

She nodded with a small smile, "I know, but what can you tell us?"

He paused before saying, "That is an Obsidian Gate Key. They're rare, extremely difficult to get, and considered more legend than fact."

"What Gate does it open?" Lucy asked. There was another pause, before;

"It opens the Gate of a Shinigami. A captain, if the number is black."

There was a pause of absolute silence before;

"Did you say Shinigami?"

"What do you mean a? As in, more than one?"

"Captain?!"

"Holy shit, Cosplayer. Who knew Celestial Spirits could be so badass?"

"I cannot say much more than that." Grandpa Crux paused before adding lowly, "Miss Lucy, should you decide to open the Gate, be prepared to answer questions. The Obsidian and Bone Keys do not lead to Spirits like the ones already in your possession."

"What do you mean 'Bone Keys'?" Crux's eyes went wide before disappearing in another puff of light, Lucy's question going unanswered. They let silence descend for several long moments, before Lucy's mind was calm enough to respond.

"So," Lucy took a deep breath before handing the Key back to Laxus. "That's all I can get for you. I'm sorry I couldn't be much more help."

"You've been a great help," Freed responded, his own mind racing. Shinigami? "We couldn't have received this much information without your aid." Even if the information they now had left more questions than it answered.

Lucy smiled brightly at them all, surprising them slightly. "I'm glad I could be of help." Laxus shared a side glance with his team, a silent conversation passing through the air in a way only those who have been long term friends would understand, before leaning forward and dropping the Obsidian Key back in her hands. Her eyes were wide when she looked up from it.

"But-"

"The Key is no use to us, Blondie. Take it."

"You could sell this-"

"And it could end up in the hands of a bad master," Evergreen interrupted sharply. Her voice softened, "We've seen the way you treat your spirits. This is much better."

"Besides," Bickslow added, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, "Think of it as a thank you, for forgiving all the shit we've done." Lucy frowned at him, eyes hard.

"There was no reason for me not to forgive you. You made mistakes, and you learned from them. End of story." Laxus froze for half a second, mind flashing back to the day of the Fantasia Parade. He remembered the protests from his team that he'd ignored, the pleading from his guildmates that went unheeded. He remembered how utterly stupid he had been.

"Most people would disagree," he said stiffly.

"Most people are idiots," Lucy shot back.

Bickslow laughed loudly, his dolls, the one he'd lost during the mission already replaced, dancing around his head. "Take the Key, Cosplayer." She still hesitated to agree so Freed added:

"We would ask that you allow us to see when you first summon it, of course. I'm quite curious as to what a 'Shinigami' looks like." After another moment, Lucy nodded, fingers curling around the dark key.

Her head turned to look at her desk, and she mumbled so lowly that only Laxus's advanced hearing heard, "I had been hoping to get some writing done while I had the peace, but oh well." She shook her head and stood, smiling at her guildmates. "Shall we go to the training grounds and meet my new Spirit?"

* * *

When they arrived at the guild, only the Master spotted them heading straight for the training grounds. When he'd followed and asked what had happened, Lucy had explained what they knew, and he'd opted to watch. Lucy, worried about the mysteries surrounding this new Obsidian Key, had asked Freed to surround the training yard with runes to keep Lucy and her Spirit in, and everyone else out. As it had been well over a week since their mission, and Freed was now back to full strength, he acquiesced.

"Right, this might get interesting!" Lucy called before facing away from her guildmates and holding out the Obsidian Key. She took a deep breath to center herself, pulling forth her magic just like Capricorn had taught her.

"I am linked to the path of the world of Celestial Spirits! O' Spirit, answer my call and pass through the Gate! Open, Gate of the Shinigami, the 10th Captain!" Without knowing the official name of the Key, Lucy improvised on the incantation. When she felt a huge drop in her magic, though, she knew it worked.

In her hands, the Obsidian Key shattered into ashes and Lucy felt a slight burning into the back of her palm as bright red light flared up in front of her, collapsing into the shape of a young boy and a sword aimed directly at Lucy.

* * *

**My entire goal for this fic is to a) put another fic out there with the greatest OTP and 2. give Lucy the characterization she deserves. She could've been Erza level of badass, and is pretty close to that in the last arc, I'll give you that. Still, I think Hero did her character a disjustice and I want to expand on who she could be with someone pushing her. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, I promise not all of my chapters will have huge notes like this one.**  
**Please Comment and Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back! Nothing much happens here, sorry. In my head, this fic is mostly Fairy Tail based with some Bleach showing up (...and driving the plot, but not the point) so I left out the Fairy Tail exposition, but added some Bleach exposition. In addition to that, here's some terminology for you;**

**Reiryoku- spiritual energy stored within the body**  
**Reiatsy- pressure that a person's Reiryoku exerts**  
**I won't often do things from the shinigami's perspective, but here it was kinda necessary. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**He had no idea whether to be fascinated or skeptical**

"You have one minute to explain before I start attacking."

Toshiro Hitsugaya, Captain of the Tenth Division of the Gotei 13, was so _not_ amused. He had just finished the paperwork for the day (damn his lieutenant) and was getting ready to turn in before someone came running to him with more reports only to get a strange tingly feeling flash through his body, like someone had run their reiatsu covered hands over him. Now he was here. Not that he knew where _here _was.

The curvy blonde in front of him wavered at his growl but quickly recovered her senses. "My name is Lucy, and I'm a Celestial Spirit Mage." Toshiro's sword wavered, confusion flooding him. _She's a what?!_

Vaguely, Toshiro felt Hyorinmaru shift inside his inner world and come to attention. _Do not attack the girl._

_"Why?"_

_Can you not sense the connection?_

He took a moment to understand what his zanpakuto meant. There, just on the edges of his senses, an underlying connection of reiryoku between him and this Lucy. It was very similar to what he felt when Hyorinmaru manifested.

His sword dropped down immediately.

"And what, exactly, is a _'Celestial Spirit Mage'_?"

The blonde looked vaguely confused, "You mean you don't _know_?"

Toshiro felt one of his brows twitch and he fought the urge to raise his sword again. He _would not_ lower himself to Kenpachi's standards. He remained better than that barbaric beast as he always would. "Would I have asked if I did?"

Lucy's face softened, her form relaxing. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little surprised. It means my magic allows me to summon Spirits from the Celestial Spirit World to help me." There was so much wrong in that sentence that Toshiro had absolutely no idea where to start.

He took a moment to absorb his surroundings, trying to understand where he stood. At first, he'd assumed that he had landed somewhere in the Soul Society considering the girl seemed to see him just fine. However, upon actually paying attention, Toshiro quickly found this wasn't the truth.

They stood behind a large, colorful building in what appeared to be a sparring ring, several more characters, ranging from someone with bright green hair to a small old man, standing off to the side. The sheer amount of reishi in the air drew his attention.

It saturated the place, dancing with the wind and floating about as if it was the most natural thing in the world, despite the fact that it was Hueco Mundo level high. It stayed extremely concentrated in the people before him. Upon looking closer at the girl, Toshiro realized that she was very, _very_, much still alive. And that what he'd first considered reishi was a little off. Too… light? It felt _similar_ to reishi, and Toshiro thought he'd have no problem absorbing it, but it wasn't _quite _right.

"Where am I?" Toshiro asked slowly, still confused beyond belief.

"In Magnolia. On Earthland." That… worried him. Toshiro knew humans called the world of the living 'Earth'. Not Earthland.

Which, of course, meant Toshiro could not be in the Soul Society, in the world of the living, _or_ in Hueco Mundo. He was _so screwed_.

"I am… unfamiliar with this world," he finally admitted. Deep in his mind, 'Maru let out a chuckled at his master's discomfort.

"Lucy," the old man on the sidelines called, "I think it's safe to bring down the enchantments, ne?" The girl nodded and, when the green haired one swiped a rapier across the ground, Toshiro felt a small ripple of displaced reiatsu. _So, they can control their powers._

_Yes. Do not underestimate them._

Toshiro nearly snorted but managed to refrain.

"Hello, my boy." The little old man grinned up at him brightly, apparently not noticing Toshiro's displeasure at the moniker. "I am Makarov Dreyar, the guild master of Fairy Tail."

"First," Toshiro began, attempting to not snap when surrounded by unfamiliar, and potentially hostile, faces. "Do _not_ call me boy. Second, I am Toshiro Hitsugaya, Shinigami and Captain of the Tenth Division of the Gotei 13." Makarov blinked but then smiled and continued to introduce the others.

"Nice to meet you, Captain Hitsugaya. This is my grandson, Laxus, and his team; Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow." They each nodded in turn, though Toshiro did not miss that they never took their eyes off of him. Curiosity or wariness?

"What do you mean, 'shinigami'?" The green haired one- Freed- asked. Curiosity, then.

"I mean I am a Soul Reaper of the Soul Society." He turned to Lucy, who had remained quiet through the introductions. "You have no idea what, or who, I am. Do you?"

She blushed lightly, shaking her head. "I found a Celestial Key, and I summoned it." Her blush quickly turned to a frown, as she looked down at her hand. "The key shattered, though. Turned into this, as far as I can tell." She showed them the back of her hand, where a large black '10' was tattooed, snowflakes in a vaguely serpentine form sprinkled around it.

Toshiro reached forward and ran his fingers over the marking, ignoring the way Lucy jumped. A flash of power flickered over his hand and he pulled away. "That, whatever it may be, is what is linking my soul to your own."

Owlish blinks went around before Lucy asked, "Soul?"

Toshiro kept a blank face, trying not to roll his eyes. Rangiku was rubbing off on him, which clearly meant that he needed to go to sleep. As soon as this newest madness was taken care of. _Please, not another Kurosaki_. "Can you not feel the connection of reiryoku linking us?"

Her face blanked for a moment before giving a soft gasp. "That is… _so strange_." She shook her head, clearing her eyes. "That doesn't usually happen with Celestial Spirits I summon." Toshiro, still so very, very confused, wondered what he'd have to do to get a full explanation.

_Relaxing may be a good place to start._

_"Sometimes I wish you weren't so talkative."_

_I speak as much as is needed._

"Perhaps," Makarov said, "We should sit for this conversation. My office is available." Toshiro wanted an explanation more than he wanted to be wary of unfamiliar places, so he agreed. After making their way upstairs and into a small cluttered office with two desks full of paperwork, somehow without being spotted by the numerous other bodies Toshiro felt, he finally got an explanation.

And he had absolutely no idea whether to be fascinated or skeptical. Because, as strange as the life of a shinigami is, Toshiro Hitsugaya has never had to deal with _this_.

"Magic," he repeated, wanting to be sure of it. "You all, have _magic_."

"Yes."

"And you," he pointed to Lucy, "Found a magic key that, when used, summoned me." She nodded.

"All the information we could get about the Key was that it's an 'Obsidian Key' and that they are really rare. Which is probably why none of us have ever heard of them."

_"Do you understand this?"_

_Yes._

That was comforting, at least. Then, what Lucy had said caught up. "Did you say _'they'_? As in, _more than one_?!"

She nodded, not seemingly bothered by this. Not seeming to realize that Toshiro was so very glad that he'd learned how to stay calm in the face of emergencies so long ago. "Yes. I can only assume that there are other Obsidian Keys out there." Meaning, other Shinigami could be summoned. But which ones? All of them? If Toshiro had a Key, then it could safely be assumed Captain Class Shinigami would have their own.

Toshiro paled dramatically, his skin going ghost white. "General Commander Yamamoto is _not_ going to be pleased about this."

Freed cleared his throat. Toshiro had nearly forgotten that there were others in the room. "General Commander?"

_"How much can I tell them? The living aren't supposed to know about Shinigami."_

_We do not have much choice. If shinigami can just be summoned at will in this world, then we already have a breach. The fact that none seem to exist in this world, as they would have come for you by now, indicates you may not actually be breaking any laws._

"Well, this is going to be long." Toshiro took a deep breath, forced away the small voice telling him that this could be a horrible dream and he would soon wake up, ordered his thoughts before launching into a tirade.

"In the, _universe_ I suppose you'd call it, that I am from, there are three worlds. The world of the living called Earth, Hueco Mundo, and the Soul Society. The Soul Society is where the dead go when they pass on. Those with high reiryoku, what you seem to call magical power, have the opportunity to become Shinigami after going through intense training.

"Shinigami are charged with three main goals; maintaining the balance of spirits in all worlds, protecting and serving the Soul Society, and killing Hollows.

"A Hollow is, essentially, a soul that has been corrupted until all that remains is the base instincts and emotions of a monster- hatred, sadism, and above all, hunger. They feed off of other souls and each other.

"Within the Soul Society is the Seratei, which is the main military force. It is broken into 13 divisions, known as the Gotei 13. Each division has a specialty and certain duties and within these divisions are ranks determined by power. The Captain, the highest rank and the one with jurisdiction, their 2nd seat and lieutenant, seats 3-20, and the other, unseated shinigami. The Captain of the first division is also the General Commander and the leader of all shinigami." Toshiro paused, contemplating adding an overview of zanpakuto or the Central 46 before deciding against it. Not until he had to.

"And you're a captain?" Laxus asked, clearly disbelieving.

Toshiro glared, ice beginning to coat the floor before he reined in his own reiatsu. "Souls do not age as the living do. I have lived over half a dozen of your lifetimes." He stopped again before adding begrudgingly, "I am, however, the youngest of the current Captains and something of a prodigy." Laxus's eyebrows went from doubtful to impressed in the span of a few seconds and Toshiro wondered how he could convey such emotions through nothing but facial hair.

Lucy cleared her throat delicately, drawing attention back to her. "I'm sorry. Celestial Spirits, _actual_ Celestial Spirits, usually don't mind being dragged away from their lives in their world. I hadn't meant to interrupt whatever duties you have." Toshiro felt his own eyebrow twitch up in surprise. He could detect no ill will or deceit from the girl. Worse, he found himself wanting to comfort her. With no reason for her to feel guilty for what was essentially an accident, she shouldn't suffer.

Toshiro squashed the sentiment. Whatever was going on was clearly messing with him. There'd never been a better time to keep a clear head and proceed logically, not get all emotional and soft.

_"How should we proceed? I mean, besides reporting to Yamamoto."_

_I am sure he will send us back here. It would make strategic sense._

_"So, don't alienate them."_

_Correct. _

"I do not fault you for doing something you had no knowledge of," he began slowly, "But as this is something that could well affect the entirety of the Soul Society, you understand that I require clearance from the General Commander before I can continue."

Nods went around the room before Makarov asked, "How long will you need?" Toshiro considered it for a moment before looking to Lucy.

"Can you summon me again in 24 hours?" Lucy nodded quickly before standing up. She stuck out her hand, the one with the tattoo that linked them together.

"Yes. Thank you, Captain Hitsugaya. I'll see you then." After trading shakes, Lucy stepped back and closed his gate. Another tingle of power traced over him before he disappeared.

* * *

When Toshiro blinked open his eyes, back in his quarters in the Soul Society, he wasted no time. He sent an emergency Hell Butterfly to General Commander Yamamoto, before quickly heading across the hall to where Rangiku had her quarters.

When she didn't immediately answer his first set of intense knocks, he stepped into the room, glad to find that she was fully clothed and alone. He guessed she'd been taking a nap from where she began sitting up on her couch.

"Captain?" she murmured, blinking blearily.

"I've just called an emergency Captain Meeting. I don't expect the lieutenants to get called in but be prepared for it in any case." At the words 'emergency Captain Meeting' all grogginess had disappeared.

"Is it Aizen?" Toshiro froze, wondering how he hadn't considered the repercussions of the traitor. If Aizen had a Key…

"No," he finally said. He turned on his heels, stalking out of the Tenth Division compound with quiet urgency towards the Meeting Hall.

* * *

Toshiro arrived just as Zaraki did, and Toshiro was pleasantly surprised to find the rest of the Captains already there.

"Oi," Zaraki barked. "This better be good."

After receiving silent permission from Captain Yamamoto, Toshiro stepped forward and said shortly, "A few hours ago, I was summoned into an alternate dimension by a wizard."

…

"_What?!_"

"Are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

"We have never gained proof of there being any worlds beyond the main three."

"Silence!" The air hung heavy after Yamamoto's command, and he looked at Toshiro before saying shortly, "Explain."

Taking another deep breath to calm himself, he told them everything he had learned. From the summoning itself to the way the air filled with ethernano to all the different types of magic that were mentioned in his hearing. And most of all, he explained about the Gate Keys.

"Lucy believes that there are other Obsidian Keys that could summon Shinigami. I am unsure how many of these Keys there may be, or which of the Shinigami could be summoned." Another bout of complete silence engulfed them.

Kurotsuchi cackled shortly, "Oh, my. How interesting! I do so wonder what allows them this… _magic_." He went largely ignored, besides a few disgusted glances.

"She can summon slaves from other worlds," Soi-Fon clarified.

Toshiro shrugged, before reporting "When I asked the same thing, she was particularly vehement in her denial. She said that, while many Celestial Spirit users _do_ use their Spirits as such, she considered all Spirits her friends and partners, _not_ her tools."

"Do you believe her?" Kuchiki asked.

Toshiro paused, considering. Lucy seemed like a very bubbly girl, altogether happy and innocent. That didn't mean she couldn't lie, but…

"I do not believe she was lying."

They all looked to Yamamoto to see what he thought of all this. The General Commander gave a deep sigh, "I didn't think this would happen."

"Wait," Zaraki called out, "You knew this was a _possibility_?"

"There is an ancient legend, that says many strong level shinigami's reiryoku leaks into other worlds, giving them a link to it. It has never been confirmed. Certainly not in _this_ way." They all took a moment to absorb that, startling only when Yamamoto faced Toshiro again.

"What connection did you feel to this girl, Captain Hitsugaya?"

He reflected on the question for the moment, speaking slowly when he'd collected his thoughts. "It was similar to the feeling of my zanpakuto, but more… protective I suppose would fit. There was an undeniable connection and-" he stopped, coming to a sudden realization. Never, _never_ would he just walk into potentially hostile territory. To go into an office belonging to someone he didn't know… wanting to comfort the girl. He hadn't even questioned why Maru, who was basically his subconscious, said they'd be coming back, because obviously they would be, what with Lucy there. She might need his help and-

And this very thought line sounded so very unlike him. He looked straight at Yamamoto, completely serious with his words. "I think… I'd help her with anything, without even realizing what I was doing."

"Are you suggesting," Kyoraku began with slowly dawning horror, "That if our… Keys or whatever get in the hands of different mages, we could be forced against each other without consent? Or do any number of things after we're summoned with no chance of rebellion?"

There was another heavy silence before Toshiro nodded slowly.

* * *

Several hours of none-stop arguing passed before a consensus was finally reached.

"It is better to have us all under the same mage to limit chances of us getting set against each other."

"Can we trust this woman to do right by us? Assuming that you must reach Captain level to have one of these Keys, that is a lot of power to hand a single girl we know nothing about."

"We will simply have to have faith."

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I like to have something besides _faith_ to go on."

"Then gain her trust." Everyone stopped, staring at Soi-Fon.

"If we do not wish for her to turn on us, then get her to trust and cherish you as she claims to do for these other Spirits."

"Agreed." They all turned to Yamamoto. "Captain Hitsugaya, when you are summoned again, you will ask for this Lucy to find any and all other Keys that may be linked in any way to our worlds. You have permission to disclose what you deem necessary for the sake of your mission. We _cannot_ allow ourselves to fall under the control of those who may command us for evil. All Captains are to inform their lieutenants to lead their Divisions should the Captain disappear unexpectedly. Dismissed."

* * *

"That was…" Evergreen fell silent not certain if there was an adjective that could even describe what they just learned.

"Nuts? Unbelievable? Mind-boggling? Ball twistingly inconceivable? Oh, I know. How about-"

"Enough Bix," Laxus commanded shortly, knowing this could go on.

"'Ball twistingly inconceivable'?" Freed asked.

"What, those are words."

"Not words that would usually go together."

"Enough," Laxus interrupted again. As was usual per their debates, Freed fell silent with an apologetic nod while Bickslow stuck his tongue out.

"Lucy," Makarov added, "What are you thinking?"

She chewed on her bottom lip, hands fiddling with her Key ring.

"What happens if another wizard gets those Keys?" Lucy's eyes lifted, full of worry and concern. "Master… what happens if a wizard like Angel gets those Keys? Or someone with an agenda like Tartarus had?" Laxus barely managed to keep from shuddering. Tartarus was an experience that none of them wanted to ever repeat, especially not if they had access to an entire military full of Shinigami.

"For now," Makarov gave a deep sigh, "We will just have to hope that does not happen and let this Toshiro Hitsugaya come to us with what his people would like us to do." They all nodded their heads, slowly rising from their seats. "Why don't you all return here when it's time to summon Captain Hitsugaya again?"

With murmured agreements, they all said their goodbyes and left their own ways. Lucy quickly found that the meetings had taken far longer than she had wished and now had only a few hours to have dinner, shower, and sleep.

* * *

The next day, Lucy took the morning to ask Grandpa Crux a little more, considering there was no one else around. Lucy understood that Grandpa Crux was under strict rules on what he could and could not say, and she even understood that the rules were even harsher for non-Celestial Spirit mages, but she still found it tedious. Not that she would ever complain.

Sadly, she received no new information besides that Bone Keys came from the same world as Obsidian Keys. Disparaging, but not surprising.

By the time she returned to the guild for the meeting, she found the Thunder God Tribe already with Makarov in the master's office.

"I'm sorry if I'm late."

"No need," the Master reassured, "Laxus and I were going over some paperwork and the others just came in." They all exchanged greetings before Lucy checked the time, found it to be almost exactly 24 hours since Captain Hitsugaya had left, and stood to summon him.

"Do you know how to summon him without a Key?" Freed tilted his head, taking in her calm stance a few feet away from anything.

"I got an idea, we'll see if it works." With a smile and a wink, Lucy stuck out her arm, focusing on the tattooed '10'. She brought forth her magic, focusing it in a single area just like Capricorn had taught her. Lucy felt light prickles on the back of her hand, right where she had sensed that _thing_ connecting her in such a strange new way to Hitsugaya. An extension that hovered out of reach, waiting for her. It only needed a little tug to past the bridge, to reach her so she could be whole. "Open, Gate of the Tenth Division Captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya!" Another drop-in power from her, though this time Lucy had been expecting it. It felt similar to holding the Gates of two Zodiacs open at once and she was a little surprised that a single summoning could take so much energy. Of course, the strangest thing about it was that, when he finally came through the Gate, Lucy could detect no more strain on her magic. No constant pull keeping him here like with her other Spirits. She could live with a single huge drop in magic at once if they didn't keep pulling on her. Then again, she had yet to join Toshiro in battle.

When the flash of red light had dissolved (_why red and not black?_), Hitsugaya was standing in its place.

"Was that 24 hours for you?" He asked after giving a short nod of greeting.

"Uh, yes?"

He hummed, "So there's a time difference. Interesting."

"There is?" Freed looked far too excited by such a prospect.

"Yes. It has been roughly two days for me since I left."

"Double the time, then." Freed pulled a notebook out, jotting out the information.

"Hello, Toshiro, I hope that wasn't a problem." Toshiro didn't return the bright smile sent his way, replying with;

"I prefer Captain Hitsugaya and no, it was not a problem. I've already received my orders from the General Commander, if you'd care to hear it?" A tad put out by the rebuff from his name, Lucy took a moment to collect herself before giving another bright smile and agreeing. When everyone settled, Toshiro began abruptly.

"The General Commander has asked that I pass on this message. 'While this has never happened before, and we never expected it to, we now face ourselves with further dilemmas and problems. The short of things is this; we absolutely _cannot_ allow for ourselves to fall into the hands of those who could command us for evil. It is for this reason that we ask of you a great favor: find all of the Keys from our world and claim them for your own.'" Toshiro paused, letting his words sink in for a moment before continuing, "We believe that anyone that has reached Captain Class power will have a Key, meaning there are at least 13 Obsidian Keys, possibly closer to 20 or more."

"20?" Laxus interrupted, "I thought there are only thirteen divisions?"

"There are several shinigami that, while they have Captain Class power levels, they do not actually hold the title for one reason or another." He took a moment to contemplate things before saying shortly, "For several reasons that have no bearing on our request, we also only have ten acting Captains at the moment."

He went on before they could question him further. "This will be a difficult task, and I will help anyway I can should you choose to take it on. To be perfectly blunt, however, I'm not entirely sure what your other options are."

"What do you mean?"

"As far as I can tell, my soul is connected to yours. As close to melded as one can get when two souls are in different bodies. I don't think it's possible to break the connection without either of us dying."

Laxus and Makarov exchanged worried glances but couldn't manage to question Toshiro further before Lucy was already shaking her head and speaking.

"It doesn't matter, I'll help you." Her bubbly exterior vanished in a flash, replaced with a cold, hard look. "I don't like it when Spirits are enslaved, and you guys aren't in a much different situation than my Celestial Spirits."

Toshiro softened a little, his shoulders relaxing. He hadn't realized how worried he was about this, until now. Silently, he cursed to himself about what was no doubt the effect of being soul bound to this mage. "Thank you."

"The only issue," Lucy said quietly, "Is that I have no idea where to even begin looking."

"Where did you find my Key?"

"We found it," Laxus put in, "In an ice cave guarded by a nest of wyverns."

Toshiro blinked a few times before saying slowly, "Wyverns wouldn't happen to be dragon-like creatures?"

"Two legs instead of four, smaller and they don't have elements, but otherwise very similar." Toshiro nodded at Freed while humming lightly.

"So, my Key was found in a place reflective of Hyorinmaru, then. Well, that's going to make this difficult." He brought a hand up, rubbing the bridge of his nose forcefully.

"Reflective of who now?"

"Hyorinmaru is my zanpakuto." At the blank looks he received, Toshiro went on, "Right, this will be complicated and I'm not going to repeat myself so listen up.

"A zanpakuto is the name of the sword that all shinigami carry. However, they are not normal swords. In short, zanpakuto are representatives of a shinigami's inner spirit and reiryoku-spirit energy-at the purest level. The stronger the shinigami's reiryoku, the stronger the zanpakuto. Each of these zanpakuto have a name, and upon learning their name and opening a dialogue up with them, shinigami are able to unlock a second level called shikai. Using a shikai allows a shinigami to double or triple their average power level and each shikai is unique to the zanpakuto. There is, however, a second level of release called the bankai.

"The bankai is the ultimate release for a zanpakuto and it is generally accepted that by releasing a bankai, a shinigami becomes as much as ten times stronger. These take a ridiculous amount of power to maintain and control, however, and take years to learn. Achieving bankai is always the best way to tell if someone has Captain Class power levels because attaining bankai is one of the requirements for the Captain Test."

"That's fascinating," Freed breathed, scribbling notes down. "What powers does your zanpakuto have?"

"Hyorinmaru is an ice dragon. My shikai allows me some control of the temperature, the ability to summon and control an ice dragon. My bankai allows me to form ice wings and fly." There was complete silence for another moment before Bickslow added;

"Little man, you are one serious badass."

"_Don't _call me 'little man'." Leaving Bickslow silenced by a frigid glare, Toshiro turned back to Lucy. "The only issue is that not all zanpakuto have exact elements or representatives, so I have few clues as to where you'd find them. Not to mention I don't know all the captains' powers."

"Well, let's start with ideas you _do_ have. While I search for those, you can consider where to find the rest of your comrades' Keys."

Toshiro paused, running things over in his head. "General Commander Yamamoto's zanpakuto has command over fire, so I'd suggest searching volcanoes or something of the such. Captain of Division 12, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, is something of a mad scientist and is head of our Research and Development department. His zanpakuto also has some nasty poison abilities, so look in some place with very advanced technology or possibly natural toxin deposits." He paused before adding, "If you find his Key, be careful. He has rather… liberal views on what's okay to do in the name of research." Makarov frowned at the implication, but Toshiro was already moving on.

"Captain of the Sixth Division, Byakuya Kuchiki's sword appears as cherry blossoms to the untrained eye when in reality it simply becomes so fine that the light reflects off of the edges of the small daggers it turns into.

"The last one that comes to mind right now is Kenpachi Zaraki, Captain of the Eleventh Division." Toshiro swept his eyes over them all before saying slowly, "Captain Zaraki is… different than other Captains. He gained his title by using an archaic and barbaric rule and as such never had need to take the Captain's Test. He is extremely powerful, but he is also blood thirsty and has no control over his immense reiatsu, he does not even know his zanpakuto's name." Toshiro shook his head, forcing away the sneer that wanted to appear. "Search for his Key in an area that's been devastated by war or in a community known for its warriors."

"You Captains are quite the collection of characters," Evergreen pointed out.

"You have no idea. Just be glad we are operating under the assumption that not all the lieutenants have Keys as well."

"Why not? Is the power difference between first and second so large?"

Toshiro nodded to Laxus, "Yes. Officially speaking, Renji Abarai, Lieutenant of the Sixth Division, is the only lieutenant to achieve bankai, so it is highly likely that he has his own Key, though I have no idea where you'd find such a thing. It turns into a giant snake that can separate its parts at will and shoots energy blasts. Take from that what you will."

"Unofficially, though?" Lucy asked ignoring that mental image. Toshiro gave a deep sigh.

"Unofficially? Rangiku, my own lieutenant, has been training to unlock her bankai, and though she has not achieved it yet, she is close. I expect other lieutenants to be doing the same, though I can't say for certain who has enough power that you would find a Key for them. I also believe that the third seat of the Eleventh Division, Ikkaku Madarame, is strong enough to have achieved bankai, though that is unconfirmed."

"So that's what you meant when you said it could be as many as twenty Keys. You just don't know."

"Correct. Then there is, of course, _him_." At Lucy's raised brows, he continued, "Ichigo Kurosaki is a Substitute Shinigami who has achieved his bankai."

"Substitute?"

"It means he is a living person with the powers of a shinigami. We aren't sure _why_ exactly he has his powers, or how in the world he has such high-power levels, but he has beaten two Captains and is considered a friend of the Soul Society, despite how we found out about him. His bankai focuses on speed and manipulating his sheer amount of power."

"And how," Laxus asked, despite knowing that it wasn't really important, "Did you find out about him?"

"He invaded the Soul Society with the help of two ex-Captains and several humans with high reiatsu levels in the hope of stopping the execution of a Soul Reaper that he'd befriended."

"That," Bickslow said after a beat, "Is really fucked up."

"That isn't even half of it, but the rest doesn't matter." Toshiro rubbed the bridge of his nose before looking to Lucy. "I'll see if I can put together some theories on locations for the rest of the Obsidian Keys."

"Thank you."

"No. You are doing us a favor, so thank you. Call for me, should you need to. Even if it is just to train or for information. My mission now is to help you find and collect all the Keys we possibly can." He stood, ready to head home. He paused though, seeming to consider something. "One final word of advice though. If you find a Key with the numbers 3, 5, or 9, do not trust them."

"Why?"

"Because those are the three Captains that have betrayed the Soul Society and are now trying to wage a war against us."

"Wait," Laxus raised a hand, the other running through his hair. "You guys are in the middle of a civil war?"

"A bit understated, but yes. Which is why we cannot allow someone we do not know to gain our Keys. We have enough trouble going on as is."

"Don't worry," Lucy said calmly. "I'll find all your Keys."

"Good luck. You'll need it." With a flash of light and a wash of power, Toshiro was gone, leaving the mages in the office.

"Right, I guess I should start looking into potential locations for these Keys." Lucy stood and brushed off the blue mini skirt she wore today. "Thank you, for the Key and your help," she flashed a bright smile at the S-Class team, "It means a lot."

"Lucy, my dear, I'm afraid there are some other matters for us to discuss."

"Oh? What is it, Master?" She re-took her seat, facing Makarov.

"I'm officially declaring anything to do with these Obsidian Keys S-Class level."

"But Mast-" Lucy froze at his raised hand.

"I will not stop you from hunting these down. To be franc,"

"But I thought your name was Makarov," Bickslow broke in, only to be glared into silence by Freed and Evergreen.

"I worry that such powerful beings could become enslaved to a Dark Guild. However, it was an extremely dangerous quest that led to Captain Hitsugaya's Key and I dare not assume that the others will be much easier. You will not leave to hunt these Keys down without an S-Class team with you."

Lucy bit her lip to stop the complaints she wanted to make. She could, in theory, just wait for Team Natsu to start taking jobs together again. She knew that Erza was S-Class and Natsu and Gray were both extremely powerful S-Class candidates. Master wouldn't be able to deny their capabilities, even if they were destructive. The issue turned into simply getting the team together again. Natsu and Gray were constantly moving, always on missions either with each other or on their own. Erza often got called in for a multitude of S-Class jobs, and this next one wouldn't be finished for a few months. They were her friends and comrades, but they also had their own lives and she couldn't expect them to be ready to head off into extremely dangerous missions right after they got back from quests. She would rather just do this on her own, though she knew the master was right and that she wasn't strong enough by herself.

"Yes, Master. I'll be sure to wait until Erza returns before leaving." Makarov frowned, his bushy brows furrowed.

"I don't recall you taking many requests lately. Are you making rent?"

She smiled brightly with a light laugh. "Yeah, don't worry. I took a few easy solo jobs last month and paid my next few months of rent in advance. I'm set until the Fantasia Parade." She stood again, heading out the door. "Thank you for your help Master. And thank you as well, Laxus, Freed, Bickslow, Evergreen. Feel free to come over for tea anytime."

After she slipped out the door with a near silent click, the Thunder God Tribe was left alone with the guild master.

"Damn, is Cosplayer always so chill when she's tasked with hunting down legendary Keys that are all well above your average S-Class mission level?"

"I do not think this is a habitual state of affairs she finds herself in, Bickslow."

"You know Freed, I'd love it if you'd shit out that Thesaurus you swallowed." "_Swallowed! Swallowed_!"

"And we'd all love it if you would silence those vulgar dolls," Evergreen drawled, "But we aren't forcing you to change your ways."

"Are you guys done yet?" Laxus snapped, rubbing his temples. "Seriously, you're all ten times worse than you usually are. What's up?" Evergreen pursed her lips and looked away, her fan fluttering in her face while Freed shifted uneasily in his seat. It was Bickslow that broke the quiet.

"Well, we're bored."

"Bored?" Laxus echoed along with Bickslow's dolls.

"Perhaps restless is a more apt term," Freed added quietly.

"Before the guild broke up," there was an expectant beat of silence while Bickslow waited in vain for Master Makarov to finally tell someone why he'd disbanded the guild for the past year. Bickslow went on unsurprised at the lack of information, "We were always moving, taking quests left and right that would take us all over Fiore. Heck, they took us all over the _continent_. Since then though, the only big mission we've taken was the one against those wyverns."

Laxus frowned at his team, running things over in his head. They _had_ been taking less missions than they used to. But re-starting the guild had brought in a new influx of quests and whole mountains worth of paperwork. Laxus didn't know the real reason Makarov had disbanded the guild for a year, but he had to help get it back on its feet.

"Guys-"

"We know," Evergreen interrupted, "That you have to help Gramps get the guild back in functioning order. We don't blame you. We just wish…" she trailed off, beseeching her teammates silently for help.

"We just want to take a few more quests, that's all. Get moving again."

"You know you don't have to wait for me, Bix. You're all perfec-."

"We are _not_ going on a mission without you," Ever snarled vehemently. "We had to after the Fantasia disaster and we won't do it again. We're a _team _Laxus. I don't know if that means anything to you, but it does to us."

The sparks dancing off his skin calmed and disappeared as Laxus eyed his team. "Don't even try going there. You know my exact opinions on _that _statement." Evergreen smiled apologetically, her fan coming back up to hide her face.

"Aye, Laxus."

"You all are adorable," Makarov broke in, beaming. "And I agree Laxus has been spending far too much time cooped up in this dusty old office."

"Jiji-"

"Nonsense Laxus. I am perfectly capable of running this place for a few years yet. Besides, I think we've just found the perfect mission for you all." It took a moment to connect the Master's words with his meaning.

"Wait, do you mean…" Freed made a vague gesture at the door, tilting his head when he received a nod.

"Lucy requires an S-Class team to escort her on her hunt for these Keys, and you all require a few difficult missions to expend your energy on."

"You seem to be forgetting," Ever said, "That she already _has _an S-Class team of her own."

"A team that is broken up over several quests at the moment," Makarov added.

"Oho, a month or two traveling with Cosplayer? That's sure to be interesting. Maybe I can get a rematch." "_Rematch! Rematch_!"

Evergreen sniffed disdainfully. "As if it's a rematch you're looking for."

Tongue lolling, Bickslow grinned. "Can 'ya blame me if I don't complain when I'm told to help out such a… _lovely lady_."

"Must you be a perv?" She glared.

"Must you be such a bore?"

"Must you _both _be so childish?" Freed added.

"Jesus fuck," Laxus snarled. "Fine, if it'll get you all to shut up and stop sniping at each other, we'll help Blondie out." Freed nodded his agreement while Ever murmured her consent.

If possible, Bickslow's smile got wider.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here we go with another chapter! I'm getting so much more love for this than I expected. Thank you all so much, your comments and favorites give me life.**  
**MINOR DETAILS: the map I'm using for this is the one found on the EarthLand Fairy Tail wiki page. Also, I have a tumblr where I repost stupid things I find and give updates to my life; search/kilannad**  
**Also I'm posting this only a few minutes before I have class so sorry if there's more typos than usual.**

* * *

**You scratch my back, I scratch yours**

When Lucy got home, she wasted no time. Even if she couldn't set out for another few months, that just meant she had more time to research and find as many potential locations for these Obsidian Keys as possible.

Which was why, when she vaguely heard a knock coming from her front door, she was on the floor with papers and maps spread out around her.

"Coming!" She stood and took three careful steps to avoid moving any of her notes and opened the door as she took her gale-force glasses off.

She raised a surprised brow at the sight in front of her, before huffing a slight laugh. "I know I told you guys to come over for tea anytime, but this isn't what I was expecting. I saw you guys two hours ago."

Evergreen matched her eyebrow raise. "Lucy, you left Master's office six hours ago." Lucy blinked, before twisting to look out her window. Indeed, twilight had settled across Magnolia like a blanket, and those still out were quickly seeking their homes or pubs for the night.

"Oh. It's later than I thought it was."

"_That's_ your response?" Bickslow asked, his dolls floating around his head. "Don't you own a clock, Cosplayer?"

She shrugged, stepping aside to let them in. "I lost track of time. And stop calling me Cosplayer. I have a name."

"But your name isn't nearly as interesting."

"Woah," Freed took a few quick steps back, effectively drawing their attention to the sitting room. "Is this what you've been so immersed in?" All the furniture was pushed back against the wall, leaving room for the fluttering pages and weighed down maps that littered Lucy's floor.

She stepped forward quickly, grabbing her notes in what, to others, would surely seem random but to her made perfect organizational sense. She stacked the papers on her side table as she picked up the rest of the maps.

"Yeah, sorry." She felt her face heat up at the rather perplexed looks on her guild-mates' faces. "Just trying to look into what To-er, what Captain Hitsugaya said. Got to be prepared for when Erza and the guys get back." In a few more movements, her sitting room was back to its usual location and the papers and maps were all placed on her desk.

"Don't be sorry," Evergreen added with a smile as she sat down, "We're the ones dropping in on you so late."

Lucy returned her smile, before grabbing tea and taking a seat herself and facing all her guests. "What _are_ you all doing here at," her eyes flicked to the clock on her mantle, and her brows went up again, "Nine o'clock?"

"_Someone_," Ever's glare at Bickslow made it very clear who she was talking about, "Didn't want to wait till tomorrow."

Bickslow jumped and landed cross-legged on her couch, lips down in a pout. "Not my fault that Laxus had to finish paperwork before we could come over."

"We could've waited till the morning, at least," Evergreen sighed, shaking her head. "Doesn't matter. The overgrown baby was too excited to sleep so we came over now."

Bickslow clapped his hands over his face, shaking his head back and forth rapidly. "Ah! Why must you be so mean to me, Ever? You're going to make me cry." Ever huffed but turned to Laxus.

"Can we get this over with? Preferably before I disembowel him."

Laxus had to cough to disguise a snort, but he sat down and faced Lucy. "Right, sorry 'bout all this, Blondie."

It was Lucy's turn to glare, "I said it once, and I'll say it again. I have a name and 'Blondie' ain't it."

Laxus smirked, but ignored her comment. After taking a moment to sip from the tea she pressed into his hands despite the killer look she gave, Laxus let his face turn serious. "We're here to ask if you'd like to partner up with us for the hunt of those Keys of yours."

Lucy froze where she had been adding sugar to her tea. Had he…? No, no way. She was clearly hearing things. Because there could be no way that _Laxus_ had just asked her, _Lucy Heartfilia_, to join his team.

"Pardon?" She asked, body still in slight shock.

Laxus snorted, and Lucy could've sworn that she saw his lips twitch before he met her eyes again. "You heard me, Blondie. We know you need an S-Class team to hunt down these Keys of yours, and we know that your team is currently on a short break while you all handle the influx of missions you've all received."

"That's…" _True_, some part of Lucy's mind supplied, but it was drowned out by the other part of her that was questioning everything that was happening. Laxus Dreyar and the Thunder Legion, possibly the only team on par with Erza, Natsu and Gray, were asking for _her_ to join them. "But… why?"

Bickslow leaned back and then forward, the couch vibrating with his quick movements. "We need to get rid of some energy, and what better way to kill time then helping a 'lil Cosplayer find some big bad shinigami?"

Lucy released a breath, some tension deep in her stomach uncurling as she finished preparing her tea. That made more sense. They were tagging along because they needed something to do. A… trade. Yeah, that made more sense to Lucy. It was what her father had built his fortune on, after all. You scratch my back, I scratch yours, and all that.

"Still, surely there are S-Class quests you could take. This is fully for my own gain. There's no reason for you to get involved if all you're looking for is to relieve your stress."

Lucy barely took notice of the frown on Bickslow's face and the look shared between Freed and Evergreen.

"Lucy," Evergreen said slowly, when it was clear Laxus had no idea what to say from here, "Perhaps we could find a few jobs to satisfy us, yes. But you're our guildmate, and thus far more important. If we can help you out, we want to."

"We owe you." When she opened her mouth to oppose, Freed added quickly, "Whether you think it or not, we do. You've been kind to us and understanding long before we atoned."

Frowning heavily, Lucy said sharply, "You made a mistake Freed. Not summoned the devil." His lips twitched, but he didn't seem inclined to change his statement at all. Lucy slid her eyes to Laxus, who was sitting back, completely at ease.

At her look that seemed to say _'well, what's your excuse?'_ he added, "We don't do anything we don't want to." Which was true. More than anything about them, Lucy knew Laxus and the Thunder Legion were independent and strong enough to _keep_ their independence.

They wanted the same thing as her, she thought, in a more indirect kind of way. Freedom. While she wasn't sure about the others' personal reasons, she knew Laxus wanted freedom from his grandfather's shadow. They were all so fiercely individualistic that they stayed a step back from the rest of the guild, even after the whole Battle of Fairy Tail thing. In a way, they were like her. Fighting for their right to do what they want. Except she never fought for it like they did.

She'd run from her father, and been hidden away by her guildmates during the war with Phantom Lord. Even when she'd gone back to the estate to speak with her father, Lucy had only spoken a few words, before leaving again. She'd stepped outside finally free of him, though. Sometimes, Lucy thought that telling her father to his face that she was done was her greatest achievement to date, except maybe the fight against Tartarus. And wasn't it sad that standing up to her father was in the same ballpark of facing against a Dark Guild of demons created by Zeref himself?

The Thunder Legion was incredibly strong, she knew. While she'd beat Bickslow, that was only after he'd spent an entire day fighting and had already been low on power when he'd fought her. Not to mention, it had taken both Natsu _and _Gajeel to get anywhere close to a tie with Laxus. Yet here they were, offering her help.

Team Natsu wouldn't be together again for another month or two at least. And Toshiro had asked her on behalf of his entire species to hunt down these Keys because it was dangerous for all involved if they fell into the wrong hands.

"Only if we take quests in the area the Keys are in," she finally consented. "I'll help you with the quests in exchange for you helping me with the Keys."

"We might not always be able to find missions in the same area," Laxus warned.

"Then we'll do the ones that we can first. The rest can wait." _For Team Natsu_, she didn't add. They understood her without that.

Bickslow shouted excitedly, and his dolls began dancing in the air. Evergreen and Freed, both far more reserved, smiled at her.

"I have to go to the bookstore tomorrow for a few more information texts," she added as she began collecting the tea set with the ease of long practice. "Why don't you all come around noon and we can figure out where the Keys are likely to be. If that works for you all, of course?"

"Alright." Laxus rose, his team following. "Jiji has basically banned me from paperwork, so we don't have much to do besides help you out, Blondie. I'll look at the locations mentioned on the current batch of S-Class missions." Expressing her agreement, she walked them out and said goodnights.

When they were gone and her apartment was finally, blessedly, empty and quiet again, she took a moment to consider what her life had turned into. Trinities of Dark Guilds, resurrected Dark Mages, demons of the worst kind trying to kill all magic. Those things were surprising, but she could handle them. Yet she had no idea how the hell she planned on surviving teaming up with the Thunder Legion, or even how she'd managed to team up with them in the first place. If nothing else, these next few months were sure to be interesting.

* * *

The next day, Lucy spent the morning at the bookstore, hunting down anything that could be helpful before heading back home to comb through the information she'd gathered.

When the clock struck twelve, a knock echoed through her apartment and she called for them to come in. The Thunder God Tribe entered to find, much like the day before, all the furniture moved so Lucy could spread out her notes and maps.

"Hey guys."

"Hey, Cosplayer."

"What's that delicious smell?" After glaring at Bickslow, who just chortled, Lucy turned to Evergreen with a smile.

"I figured I'd make curry for lunch. Oh, that reminds me." She stood and jumped over the pile of notes to head into the kitchen. "Find seats wherever you can." While the boys sat, Evergreen followed Lucy.

"Here, let me help."

Smiling brightly, Lucy thanked her and together they brought all of the plates out into the living room. Bickslow hovered in the air, his dolls making a platform underneath him while Laxus leaned back on the couch that was pushed against the wall. Freed ran his eyes over the notes Lucy had, his eyebrows rising.

"This is impressive. You really think a Key could be at all of these locations?"

She shook her head and handed him a plate. "No, this all the _possible_ locations for those few Keys that Hitsugaya mentioned. I'm only _sure _about one, and even that is only about a 70% chance of being right. I have very good _guesses_ for two more, and a hint for a final one."

"Better than what we had before, Blondie. Break it down." Lucy glared, plopped herself in the middle of her notes and took a few bites of lunch just to make Laxus wait. He seemed amused by her petulance, and Bickslow cooed at her.

"Aw, did the big scary Boss hurt lil' Cosplayer's feelings by ordering her around?"

She turned her back on both of them and faced Freed and Evergreen, both of which rolled their eyes at Bickslow. At least _two_ of the members she was teaming up with were normal and willing to listen in silence. Honestly, she was already exasperated with all of this.

"The Key I'm sure of- as much as I can be, anyway- is the one for their General Commander. Hitsugaya mentioned his power involved fire and I assumed that because he is their Commander, that he must have the highest power levels, like Master." She turned and pointed at a book on volcanoes laid out to the side. "The largest, strongest volcano on this continent is on the Northwestern side of Desierto. I'd place money on his Key being there. The _issue_ then becomes how we retrieve it. No one has managed to enter the cave system that leads to the center of that volcano- where it would make sense for the Key to be- for over four hundred years." She paused, before adding seriously, "I have no proof, but I have a theory that the last creature to enter that mountain without boiling alive was Igneel."

Bickslow whistled. "The Fire Dragon King himself, huh? Might need his protégé then."

Lucy nodded. "That's what I thought. Natsu will be my best bet to get that Key. Meanwhile," she pulled two more books towards herself and pointed at the large map of the continent laid out before her as she continued, "The two I have educated guesses on are for that Twelfth Captain and the Eleventh Captain. The first of which, I think is here, on this island off the side of Ca-Elum. There's a town there that has made huge advances in technology, but also exports a lot of toxic minerals to Enca, who purifies them before using them in medicines. The second Captain I think is here, in the far North side of Stella. I found a history book that tells of the area being surrounded by large wild animals and of a village of warriors settling in the midst of them."

"Alright, those sound like good leads," Ever called, moving back to the kitchen to get seconds for Laxus and Bickslow, both of which she knew ate more than normal. "So, what's the problem?"

"The problem is that those two areas are in exact opposite directions," Freed offered. He glanced around, noting that Lucy had several other possible locations for each of those Captains, but none that were quite as promising. "You said you had thoughts on another?"

"The one he called Ichigo Kurosaki. The way he talked made it seem like he specialized in using huge amounts of power." They all nodded their agreement. "The thing is, power tends to be drawn to power. It's why so many of the more powerful mages find themselves in guilds with Wizard Saints. I mean, look at Fairy Tail. Gildarts, Erza, and Laxus, all three of you have the power to be considered a Wizard Saint, and you're all in a guild _led_ by a Wizard Saint."

"Not to mention the other powerful wizards," Freed mused, thinking of his team, Grey, Natsu and even Lucy. While Freed wasn't as knowledgeable as he'd like to be on Celestial Spirit Magic, he was aware that opening a Gate and holding it open long enough for prolonged battle was difficult, and that wasn't even touching on Lucy calling forth multiple Zodiac Gates at the same time.

"Right. Which is why I thought that maybe this Ichigo's Key would manifest somewhere with high levels of ethernano. The issue is that I have no idea where that might be."

"So, let's start with the two leads we do have," Laxus said. He pulled a bundle of fliers out of his jacket pocket. He took a moment to look over Lucy's map, before saying, "There's an S-Class mission on the Southern border of Ca-Elum. They need help retrieving something that was taken by a Dark Guild. If we took that one and went after the scientist dude, then we would have to travel to one side of Ca-Elum before trekking to the other and then back. But I do have an S-Class mission in a town over from where you seem to think this warrior village is. Retrieval of something from an old temple, apparently." Lucy frowned as she considered their options.

On the one hand, she certainly didn't want to waste the time and energy of going back and forth on Ca-Elum, but on the other it was a three weeks travel taking trains to get to Stella. But the Eleventh Captain seemed to specialize in combat, which was something she thought would help her as well. Besides, the sound of the other Captain made her nervous.

She noticed them all watching her, waiting for her opinion. She chewed on her lip for another moment before saying quietly, "I'm not gonna lie, the way Hitsugaya spoke of Captain Kurotsuchi makes me nervous."

Ever nodded, before adding, "If we take Captain Zaraki, then we won't have to travel as far between objectives."

"It'll take about six weeks to get there," Bickslow commented, hooking his feet over the line his dolls made and floating upside down above them all. "We'll have to be ready for the travel time. Not to mention it'll take us through Bosco which is known for its storms."

"Six weeks? It's only three by train."

"We walk where we can," Evergreen explained to Lucy. "It saves us money, even if it does double the time." She shot a look at Laxus, who was studiously studying the map of railroads Lucy had.

_That's right_, Lucy remembered. _Laxus is technically a Dragon Slayer_. If Sting and Rogue get sick like Natsu and Gajeel, then he probably did too. Which would explain why they walked so much, especially if they always took jobs that were so far away. No wonder they were rarely at the guild.

"We take a train to Crocus then walk the rest of the way to Bosco. We'll pick up another train when we get into Stella to take us the rest of the way."

"Alright," Lucy agreed. Laxus _was_ the S-Class mage here, and the head of his team. Besides, they were doing her a favor. There was no reason to argue with him. Also, if nothing else, taking their time to do this mission would mean that by the time they returned, Team Natsu would be ready to get back together.

* * *

Travelling with Laxus and his team was an event that she would not soon forget, if nothing else. As it happens, the _reason _that constantly using trains was so expensive, was because they always got a private cart. When Lucy saw the way Laxus put his back against the window, buried himself in his fur coat, and covered his ears with his Sound Pods and _still_ looked green, she couldn't exactly blame them. No way would Laxus ever want anyone outside of his team to see him like this.

A part of Lucy warmed at the thought that _she_ got to see him like this. With his eyes closed, he probably didn't notice the way she kept shooting him glances. It was just so _strange_. Every time she'd seen Laxus before, he'd always been so sure of himself. Full of confidence and bravado that he could actually back up. Well, except for when he showed up at the guild after his fight with Natsu and Gajeel, but that had some pretty extenuating circumstances. Basically, seeing him so obviously uncomfortable was a strange experience, and for some reason just made him seem more human. _I mean,_ Lucy thought, _this is the guy that single handedly took down Raven Tail _and_ defeated Jura, one of the Ten Wizard Saints_. Lucy sometimes thought him more beast than man, like Gildarts.

"Lucy," Freed said, interrupting her thoughts. She turned to him, and smiled.

"Yeah?"

"Would you be willing to tell me more about Celestial Spirit Magic? I know you have used one spell that doesn't require your Keys, outside of using Gemini as a power boost."

"Urano Metria," she provided.

"Yes. And I heard that you use something called Star Dresses? Will you explain all of that? I was under the, clearly false, impression that Celestial Magic was limited by the Keys the mage possessed."

"Of course. I'm told that there are other spells like Urano Metria, but I don't know them. I guess you could compare those type of spells to the Dragon Slayer Secret Arts. Honestly, it takes so much magic energy that I only use it when I don't have another choice just because I'm usually out for the count afterwards. As for the Star Dresses, those are close to a type of Requip magic but a little different. Did Levy mention them? I haven't used them much since the guild rejoined. Loke is actually the one who…"

* * *

Laxus closed his eyes against the swaying, turning up his Sound Pods to overpower the _click, clack_ of the train as it started to move. Fuck whatever asshole decided that all Dragon Slayers had to get motion sick. Actually, fuck his prick of a dad that made him take the Lacrima. Ivan had believed that by putting the Lacrima in Laxus's head, it would improve his senses more than it normally would have. He was right, though it meant the side effects of Dragon Slayer Magic, like motion sickness and draconian instincts, were also enhanced. Not that he really regretted it, considering it was what helped him get strong enough to protect his family. Still, someone had to be blamed, and ten year old Laxus surely wasn't at fault.

With _Wanted Dead or Alive_ filling his ears, Laxus could _almost _trick his body into believing it wasn't on a death trap of doom. Except for the fact that he couldn't really stop his nose from working. Smoke, old feet, and leather clung to the private compartment like fungi, accompanied by the familiar aromas of his team. Of course, there was another, newer scent joining them.

Laxus wouldn't really mind Blondie sitting next to him, but her own smell of fruit and lavender had a distinct layer of smoke and fire underneath it. Not to mention the ice, metal, and fur that was beneath _that_.

That is to say, Lucy Heartfilia had her teammates' scents surrounding her, the strongest of which happened to belong to the Salamander.

Dragon instincts were a strange thing, Laxus mused, blocking out the train's movements. They demanded that anything that was theirs, whether it be an actual mate or just allies, objects or creatures, were marked as such with their scent. They also tended to scream _back away_ when approaching anything marked by another dragon. Best not to start a war, after all.

It was just too bad that Dragon Slayers operated under those same instincts.

Laxus couldn't really blame Natsu for drowning Blondie in his aroma. It wasn't really intertwined with her own, like Bisca and Alzack's, so Laxus could only assume that they weren't actually lovers, but they were still very close teammates. Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow were covered in Laxus's scent, after all. It just meant that the dragon part of Laxus (or the part that wasn't internally barfing) wanted him to get farther away from a girl clearly marked off limits.

Not that Laxus wanted anything to do with Blondie for the long term. She was smoking hot, and nice, but he was doing this mostly because Jiji made him and his team needed the exercise. Also, trying to steal Blondie from Team Natsu was just asking to be taken out.

The current song faded, and in the beat of silence before the next started, he heard Blondie ask, "Hey, Bickslow. Why don't you take off the mask? It can't be comfortable." Discreetly, Laxus lowered the sound without moving too much, and cracked his eyes open enough to see without appearing awake. Bickslow's mask and Seith Magic was a sensitive topic, and he wanted to know where exactly she went with this. Already, Evergreen tensed, staring at Blondie in warning. Objectively, she may be the weakest member of the Thunder Legion, but she was fierce when it came to protecting her team. They all were. It was part of why Laxus loved them so much.

Ugh, now he was getting sentimental. Clearly the train ride scrambled his brain.

"Aw, do ya want to see my pretty face, Cosplayer?" The tension in Bix's shoulders belayed his attempt at nonchalance. Blondie's eyes shot to Ever for a moment, but she just sat up straighter and continued. She clearly knew she stood on shaky ground, but remained determined to continue.

"You can control your Seith Magic, right? It's not like with Evergreen's Stone Eyes. So why do you keep wearing the mask?"

Shrugging, Bix grinned. "Most are uncomfortable when I'm not wearing it. Not like I mind it much," a lie, Laxus knew, "'Sides, it gives me a very mysterious aura, don't ya think?"

Blondie raised a brow, and Laxus was astonished with how supremely unimpressed the normally bubbly girl could appear. "Honestly, Bickslow. It's a part of your magic and only idiots would judge you for it. Who here would be uncomfortable?"

A tense moment passed where the _"you" _went unsaid. Bix seemed to stare at Blondie for a very long time, and Laxus wondered if he was using his magic right now. Seith Magic might let him control souls, but it also means that he could see souls. And they tended to reflect the personality and emotions of the person.

Grinning suddenly, Bix leaned back where he was sitting cross-legged on the bench. "Alrighty, Cosplayer. If you insist." He removed his helmet, revealing his wide, bright red eyes, blue mohawk, and Seith Tattoo. Blondie took a moment to study him, before grinning.

"The tattoo is kind of like mine." She waved her hand where the tattoo from the silver haired squirt was. "Magical and all, I mean. Now that I think about it, your eyes are kind of like Gajeel's, just without the slits." She turned to Freed, "Do you know whether the slits are because Gajeel is a Dragon Slayer? Natsu's only get like that when he uses Dragon Force."

Freed opened his mouth, no doubt about to enter lecture mode, but Laxus was already turning up his music and sinking back into the meditative state he had to maintain if he didn't want to vomit. If nothing else, it seemed like Blondie was good for giving Freed someone to converse with. Now that he thought about it, Ever would probably end up liking having another woman around as well.

A few hours later, when there was a knock on the door offering lunch, Blondie stood to accept it and passed it around. Laxus waved her off when she came to him. He would need to eat at some point in the next three days, but it certainly wouldn't be while they were moving. Shrugging, she turned to the others.

"Here Bickslow." He grinned at her and accepted the plate.

When they'd all settled, he said, "Thanks Cosplayer. And call me Bix." Whether he was just thanking her for the food, or for being one of the few who didn't seem to care that he could activate his magic and take over her soul within a second, only he knew. Though Laxus had a guess.

* * *

After arriving in Crocus in the evening on their third day, they all went out for food before hunting down a hotel. Evergreen seemed to be of the opinion that, if they were going to be camping out for the next month, she deserved a hot bath and a good bed. Lucy couldn't bring herself to disagree.

Two rooms, one for the guys and one for the girls, were acquired and Lucy found herself sinking into a soft mattress, a far cry from the leather benches they'd all been on for the past few days.

"You sure you're alright with sharing a room?" Evergreen asked her. "We can get another if you need."

"Don't be ridiculous. If anything, I should be asking you that. You must always have had a bed to yourself."

Evergreen busied herself with changing, not looking at Lucy. "Well, yes. But I don't mind at all. I, uh, never really had the chance for sleep overs with other girls as a child."

Surprised, Lucy considered what she knew about Evergreen. It was actually very little. She was three years older than Lucy, had been part of Fairy Tail since she was a teenager at least, and was a member of the Thunder Legion. And there was something unnamed going on between her and Elfman. Strange, that she knew so little about a woman who she'd agreed to travel with. Then again, she might know even less about the guys. It's sad to consider that in Evergreen's past, whatever it may be, she had never had the chance for sleepovers. Not that Lucy had exactly gone to normal sleepovers, mind you. Still, she'd had to play with some of the daughters of her father's business partners and they'd managed to do things that most little girls did. Like sneak into each other's beds and gossip.

"Well," she finally said brightly. She pulled the covers on the other side of her bed away, set on showing Evergreen exactly what she'd missed. They'd gotten a room with two beds, at Evergreen's insistence. At first, Lucy thought it was because she'd wanted her space, but now Lucy thought that it was just her trying to give _Lucy_ her space. Ridiculous, considering Lucy almost always shared a bed with Erza. "The first step is curling under the blankets in the dark."

Evergreen's eyes widened but her surprised was soon overtaken and she seemed rather doubtful. "And why exactly do we need to be in the same bed, and in the dark?"

Lucy shrugged. "Don't know. This is just how it's done." Eyebrows still raised, Evergreen turned off the lights and slid between the crisp sheets next to Lucy.

"This seems like something a man came up with to fulfill some perverted fantasy."

Lucy laughed. "I always thought it was a mother's idea, so she could keep an eye on her girls easier." Evergreen seemed to consider this, before shaking her head.

"No, my money is definitely on some old man's fantasy."

Lucy laughed again, and settled a little more into the warm bed. "So, tell me about traveling with all guys. I mean, at least I have Erza, Wendy and Carla."

With the sigh of the long suffering, Evergreen flopped back on the bed. She was a lot less elegant, Lucy noticed, in the dark of their hotel room. Perhaps it was because the room remained illuminated only by the starlight filtering through the curtains, or possibly it's because the guys were nowhere to be seen.

"Freed is alright, most of the time. Bookish, and more interested in hunting down bookstores on our way back, but he can at least act mature. But _Bix_! He can never stay still for long, and even when we walk for weeks on end, he chooses to have his spirits create a floating platform that he balances on. At least he's funny though, and watching him and Freed argue can keep things from getting boring. Laxus tends to just watch the show and keep the boys from annoying him or giving us a bad reputation while we're in a town." Evergreen snorted, and Lucy could tell she smiled. "There was this one time when Bix was trying to convince Freed that sleeping around could help him develop his magic core…"

They spoke of easy things, of pass missions and of the shenanigans of their teams. Deep into the night, Lucy found it easy to fall asleep, even with the unfamiliar body of Evergreen next to her instead of Erza.

* * *

Lucy woke alone in her bed, the light of dawn already filtering in the room. Evergreen's side of the bed was cold, and her bag sat packed but left in the corner. Frowning, Lucy got up and got dressed herself. Perhaps she was just out getting breakfast, or needed to run an errand before they left. She would come back, Lucy told herself. Besides, Lucy herself was up so early to train her magic core with Capricorn. She'd been getting up at dawn and spending an hour or two pushing her core to the limit every day since the Grand Magic Games, and she saw no reason to stop now.

Making her way to the roof of the hotel they were in, she hummed idly to herself. Maybe Evergreen had just gone to speak with the boys. Lucy would check their room when she was done with her training, she thought. Opening the door, however, revealed the roof already occupied by her- temporary- team.

While Laxus sat against the wall surrounding the flat roof, Freed, Bix, and Evergreen were all in the center, fighting. Evergreen sent her Fairy Bomb towards Bix, setting them off before he could dodge. He went flying, but seemed to stop in midair. It wasn't until Lucy saw the red words that she realized Freed had an enchantment keeping them boxed in. In an instant, Bix had repositioned himself to use the air wall as a platform to send himself at Evergreen, tackling her bodily while his dolls sent an attack towards Freed.

"What are you doing up, Blondie?"

Lucy turned to Laxus, eyeing his relaxed form. Sparing then, that he seemed to be staying out of. Still, she glared at him, trying to send a _'good morning to you too'_ vibe. "I wake up this early every morning to work on my magical core with Capricorn." She made a gesture towards the trio, ignoring the way Bix taunted Freed. "What's up with that?"

"They do it every morning that they can. Keeps them in shape and helps them improve. I imagine it's the same reason you train with your Spirit." Lucy shrugged, not denying it. Still, her training with Capricorn, even on the few days when they worked on hand to hand combat, never left her as bruised and tired as the Thunder Legion would be.

"It's not just that," Freed added, coming up next to them. In the few moments they were talking, it seemed as if they had all finished their spar. None seemed to be injured, so Lucy guessed that Freed had some way to heal them. "We cannot improve if we do not train, it's true. But we also do not wish to be a burden on Laxus-sama. He is much stronger than us, so it is important that we try to close the gap so that we do not hold him back."

"Doesn't Team Natsu spar at all?" Evergreen asked curiously.

Lucy shrugged. "Not really. Natsu and Gray will fight occasionally, and I meditate with Capricorn to train my core, but otherwise we've never done anything like that." She gestured to the area the Thunder Legion had just been fighting in.

"Strange," Freed murmured. "We sometimes do a free for all, as you just saw, but we also do teams or the three of us against Laxus-sama. It helps with our team work as well as our stamina and power."

Lucy considered that for a moment. Thinking about it, she realized that Team Natsu did a lot of one on one fights. Even then, they didn't really train together. She was familiar with the fighting styles of her partners, but none of them really allowed for team battles. She wondered how it had never really come up, besides the time Natsu and Gajeel worked to defeat Laxus and Juvia and herself fought together in the Tower of Heaven. Something to improve on, in case it came up.

"Hey Bix, Freed." They turned to her, both expectant. "Want a rematch?" She side-eyed Evergreen, "And I could use a partner, if you're willing." All three grinned at her.

* * *

Laxus was rather surprised that Blondie asked for a sparring match. She didn't seem the type. Then again, she had just admitted that _none _on her team was that type. Ridiculous. Laxus didn't become one of the top mages in the guild by sitting around on his ass. He wondered when Erza found time to train that didn't involve her teammates, because there could be no way that she remained still that good without working on it. Laxus himself maintained a simple workout regimen in the morning alongside Bix and Freed and then often did battles against the Thunder Legion when they were walking in between towns.

Freed reset the Runes that acted as a barrier to ensure they didn't destroy the hotel, and then called out the rules. "No killing, no maiming, the goal is to get your opponents to concede defeat. Myself and Bickslow versus Evergreen and Lucy. Start in ten seconds."

In the air above them, a countdown started.

As soon as it hit zero, Bix was in the air, his dolls lining up. Before his spell could even fire though, Blondie's whip was snapping out, catching him in the leg and knocking him off balance. As he lost concentration, his spell sputtered out, and Ever took the chance to shoot up, catching him in the stomach with her Fairy Machine Gun. Freed lunged forward, snapping his sword down on Blondie's wrist. In the span of a second, her whip was on the ground and she backed up, visibly shaking her hand out. She reached for her belt, where Laxus could hear the jingling of her Gate Keys. Bix shot out another attack, and Ever had to sweep in, grabbing Blondie under the arms and pulling her above the attack. With a sweep of her arm, Blondie made a summoning, and in the next instant there were two flashes of gold. A pink haired woman, and a man dressed in a horse suit- Aries and Sagittarius he heard her call them- stood next to her.

A wave of what appeared to be pink fuzz swept against Freed and Bix, but Bickslow's dolls were high enough to avoid it. Sagittarius shot out three arrows, but before he could destroy the last two, they had responded in kind. Sagittarius was too slow to dodge, and vanished. Scowling, Blondie sent Aries back to her world, and called out, "Open, Gate of the Tenth Captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya!" just as Freed stood and sent out an attack. Laxus couldn't tell what it was from here, only that Evergreen got caught in it and was sent flying back to hit the wall. The pale haired squirt, Hitsugaya, appeared just in time to deflect it from Blondie with his sword.

"A sparing match?" He questioned, standing up from his defensive position.

"Yeah. Evergreen and I versus the guys. Hope I didn't pull you away from anything important."

"My paperwork can wait, I suppose."

Hitsugaya lunged forward, meeting Freed's rapier head on. To Laxus's surprise, Freed was actually pushed back. The only person who was a match in swordsmanship with Freed was Erza, but what followed was a series of slashes and blows, continuously pushing Freed back. Any counter measures were useless, as Hitsugaya dodged nimbly. In a move Laxus could barely follow, Hitsugaya slipped under Freed's extended arm, using his smaller stature to get within his defense and moved his blade against Freed's throat.

"I concede," Freed intoned, eyes wide. Hitsugaya backed away immediately, turning to watch the other fight in progress.

Turns out, Blondie was pretty damn good with that whip. While Bix was good with hand to hand, his main offense was using his dolls, and with three of them destroyed he found himself dodging both women. Blondie was quick with her whip- which she'd retrieved at some point- snapping out at him when he got too far away. Within a moment, Laxus could see the way she was herding him, and was unsurprised when, after Bix jumped back to avoid a vicious attack by Blondie, he landed straight in a grouping of bright yellow dust. Within an instant, Ever ignited her Fairy Bomb.

When the dust cleared, Bix was sprawled on the ground, his helmet tousled. Evergreen plopped herself down, sitting on his stomach. "Now, now, Bix. Don't make this harder than it has to be."

"Ugh, why are all women so scary?!" Evergreen lifted herself an inch before dropping her full weight down. Bix let out an oomph, before groaning out a forfeit.

Laxus snorted as he stood and made his way over. Freed dropped the enchantments, and Laxus overheard Blondie speaking to Hitsugaya.

"I wish there was a way to ask before I summon you. I hate worrying that I'm pulling you away from something important."

"Are you able to control your rei- I mean your magical energy without releasing it?"

"Yeah. Guiding it is kind of an important part of controlling it." Hitsugaya nodded, and stepped close enough to grab Blondie's hand. Laxus noticed that the Thunder Legion was watching the interaction as closely as he was.

"Send a pulse down the bond then." Blondie paused for a moment, before Hitsugaya seemed to flinch after a moment. "Perhaps a little weaker." She smiled sheepishly, and something seemed to happen that ended with Blondie jumping back and staring at her hand.

"Wow, that feels weird." She frowned, looking at Hitsugaya in confusion. "But where is the connection centered for you? You don't have a tattoo on your hand."

Hitsugaya sighed, before stepping back. He pulled down the black cloak he wore, revealing his pale chest and the marking on it. A wide, simplistic golden star with an antique looking golden key inside it was tattooed over his heart. "I noticed it after you summoned me the second time. I would guess anyone else that you summon would gain the same thing."

"Woah." Blondie inspected the marking before smiling up at him. "Well, we're on our way to get what we think is the eleventh Captain's Key."

"Zaraki, eh?" Hitsugaya raised a brow. "Good luck then. As for the issue of summoning me when I'm busy, I'll work out a system based on the pulses of power we can send each other for communication. Summon me again in a day or two and I'll have it done."

"Alright, thank you Captain Hitsugaya." Blondie smiled brightly at him, before closing his Gate. She turned to Bix, a frown suddenly marring her face. "Sorry about the dolls. I didn't even think of the problem of replacing them."

"Nah, don't worry. I carry extras. 'Sides, while getting rid of my babies hurts me here," he placed a melodramatic hand over his heart, "It's a good strategy."

"Fascinating," Freed breathed, staring at the place Hitsugaya had just been. "I've heard that extreme magical power or connections can cause physical manifestations on the mage." He made a gesture to Bix, whose tattoo was hidden by his replaced helmet. "These shinigami must be on a completely different level, if their very connection to you leaves a mark."

Laxus rolled his neck, before heading towards the door. "Ponder whatever theory you're contemplating after we get on the road. You all have half an hour to shower before we eat and head out."

After showering and changing into combat boots, a short black skirt, and a pink crop top, Lucy joined Evergreen and the guys outside the hotel. Crocus was lively and full of people, but lacking the chaos from the Grand Magic Games of two months prior. Following a quick breakfast, they headed North, towards the Bosco boarder.

Over the day, Lucy found herself lost in thought. She had known she had gotten stronger over the past year, and her magical core was much larger than it had been when she'd joined Fairy Tail. Still, it was shocking to know that she was capable of fighting Freed and Bickslow and _winning_. Well, kind of. She was perfectly aware that they hadn't gone anywhere near all out, and she probably would've gotten taken out earlier had Evergreen not been helping her, but still. Toshiro was a huge help with that, but wasn't that the whole point of being a Celestial Mage? Her own power correlating to how powerful her Spirits were? The rules may be different with the shinigami, but if she wasn't strong, she wouldn't even be able to summon them. It did make her wonder though.

Normally, when she summoned a Spirit, there was the initial summoning cost- greater for Zodiac Spirits- and then a continual burden on her magic. The more spells they used while they were in her world, the more magic it cost her. But with Hitsugaya, a single huge drop in her magic when she first opened his Gate, and then nothing. Admittedly, she hadn't seen him use a spell, or what the equivalent for him would be, so that could change. Something to try the next time she summoned him for training.

Besides the introspect into her magic and new friend, Lucy also found herself contemplating her new traveling companions. Evergreen hadn't lied when she said that things were never boring. Freed asking her more details on her magic, Bix making tasteless jokes, Ever complaining of said jokes, Freed jumping in with a lecture on propriety, Laxus telling them all to be quiet, Bix saying "make me", Laxus sending a single bolt of lightning in front of Bix a half second before he stepped in that spot.

Lucy found herself laughing brightly, earning an over exaggerated pout from Bickslow.

"Aw, come on Cosplayer. Why you gotta laugh at me?"

"Because you deserved it for those jokes."

He jumped down from his floating platform, but seemed to decide walking on his feet was boring as he did a flip and landed on his hands. He lifted his head so Lucy, who was walking to his right, could see his face. Grinning, he said, "Do you know why it takes so long to make a blonde snowman? Because you have to hollow out the head." With a squawk, Lucy snapped her whip out, wrapping around Bickslow's hands and _pulled_. With his own yell, Bix tumbled to the ground. He was pouting again, but with a sudden knowing smirk he opened his mouth. "Three blondes walk-" before he could finish, there was the crack of lightning and Bix had a split second to roll out of the way of Laxus's attack.

"Watch it Bix. I would hate to put you out of commission before we were even a week in."

"I think that's a new record for Bix bringing Laxus to the end of his patience," Evergreen mused.

Lucy raised a brow and side-eyed Laxus. "With how often you call me Blondie, I was starting to think you had forgotten your own hair color."

"I was annoyed with his poor jokes, not the subject, Blondie."

Rolling her eyes, Lucy sighed loudly. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Pikachu." Laxus snapped his head to look at her, eyes wide and brows raised. Bix snorted, before dropping to the ground with laughter. Evergreen and Freed didn't seem to understand what was so funny.

"S-she-" Bix guffawed, barely breathing. Lucy was distantly worried about his health when she noticed he was actually crying. "She called him Pikachu! HAHAHA!"

"Oookay," Evergreen turned to Lucy, who was blinking innocently up at Laxus's glare. "Care to explain?"

After another moment of their staring contest, Laxus looked away with a huff, pulling his Sound Pods up and turning away. Lucy chuckled, before turning to Evergreen and Freed. "There's this game, called Pokémon. It uses Lacrima that take advantage of illusionary magic so you can play. It's pretty rare and expensive though, so most don't know about it. I only saw it because a few travelling circuses have it. Basically, it lets you collect these pets that use different types of magic that you can battle against other creatures like them. Pikachu is a lightning creature." She smirked, unable to stop herself from picturing a side by side comparison of Laxus and a Pikachu. "It's small and looks cuddly, even if it doesn't have a disposition inclined to like humans."

Bix, finally in control of himself, caught up to them in a few long strides, throwing his arms over Freed and Ever's shoulders. "What she didn't tell you, is that Pikachu is a fan favorite that most consider 'an adorable travelling companion'." He snorted again, before calling out to where Laxus was walking ahead of them, "Hey, Boss! How have you even played Pokémon before?" There was no response, and Bix pouted as he dropped his entire weight onto the shoulders of his two teammates. "How mean!" Grunting, Freed pushed Bix off his shoulders while Ever slid away gracefully, letting him drop to the ground again.

"You know, how _do you_ know what Pokémon is Bix?" Lucy wondered. She was actually surprised that _anyone_ in this group had gotten the reference. She had once called Natsu Charmander and her entire team had stared at her in confusion. Unsurprising considering their pasts, but Lucy had expected a similar situation here. She was just so used to making jokes that only she got because of her significantly different background that she didn't even mind if no one understood her humor. It wasn't like it was a big deal, or anything, but it was a pleasant surprise that both Bickslow and Laxus understood the joke.

"Oh, I was born in a circus. We had an act that used Illusion Lacrima to replica certain Pokémon for entertainment."

"Really? How interesting. I haven't been to a circus since before my mom died." Lucy paused, considering how long ago that was. "Wow, this is another one of those times that the seven year time lock really messes me up. For me, it feels like it's been nearly fourteen years since I went to a circus, but I guess it's really been twenty-one." There was a moment of silence while they all absorbed that.

"We missed a lot, didn't we?" Evergreen said quietly. It wasn't that they didn't logically know that, but it could feel strange when they were reminded of it. The world had kept spinning while they were just… stuck. A queer sort of immortality, Lucy thought. Time that none of them would ever get back.

"I suppose that just means we'll have to make more memories," Lucy insisted, forcing cheer into the air. She couldn't go back and stop the time skip from happening, but she _could _make sure that they looked to the future instead of the past.

* * *

**I'm sorry not much happened this chapter and I'm afraid the next few are pretty character heavy as well. Please comment! It gives me so much energy to write.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I LIVE. Kinda, college still sucks and I'm moving in two months soooooo don't expect to hear from me until june ish, if then.**  
**Where did any of this chapter come from, you may ask? I have no idea. This is just me doing wish fulfillment and building sexual tension that just won't get released for a while yet.**  
**In other news, I have a playlist I listen to while writing this fic, and here it is in case you want www. youtube (com/) playlist?list=PLWor3oXXNIYlJQamDUmEL7H43Gsz_QGGk**

**The music nature made around her**

* * *

_Those first days traveling with the Thunder God Tribe were quite the experience. On one hand, there was never a boring moment, but on the other… well, Bickslow could be a lot to handle in large quantities, and never quite finished the blonde jokes. At least I gained some measure of amusement whenever I called Laxus Pikachu. _

_It was nice to have Evergreen with me. I love Erza and Wendy dearly, but neither are really girly in the same way I am. Evergreen, however, was more than happy to talk about clothes and makeup with me. Freed was equally enthusiastic to talk about books and the ins and outs of various types of magic._

_Laxus seemed to keep himself held back from me, and at the time I couldn't really blame him. I was the interloper, the outsider invading what I slowly came to realize was a tight nit family. Every movement one took, the others were aware of. Evergreen tripped, and Freed caught her arm, Bix did a summersault on his dolls and Laxus shifted to the side, so he didn't get in the way. Bix would startle a laugh out of Ever, and his smile would become a little softer and a little less "mad psycho". _

_I couldn't really blame Laxus for not enjoying my presence, even if it did make me wonder why he had willingly invited me in the first place. I just chose to respect his distance and focused on the other things going on._

_Like speaking with Toshiro Hitsugaya. Toshiro had developed a system based on the rhythm of pulses and the timing between them for us to communicate. One pulse from me to indicate I wanted to summon him, one back meant that was fine, two meant he couldn't come. Two from me indicated it was an emergency. Three from either party was a check in, an "are you alright?" type of thing. One back for yes, two for no. Simple, but it worked well and meant that, when I wanted to just summon him for training, I could ensure that I wasn't interrupting anything too important. _

_During this time, I also learned that shinigami have a sort of raw magic that allowed them to use certain spells called Kido. Like any time a Spirit used magic, I felt the drain on my power. That drain was nothing like when Toshiro used his shikai, however. The one time he did that, I had already summoned Capricorn and nearly passed out at the sudden strain on my magic. I resolved to grow my magic core until I could handle _anything_ that the shinigami could throw at me._

_Overall, I made progress with Toshiro, but it remained strange to travel with a group of people that I only vaguely knew. I pushed on, and I found myself growing to appreciate and enjoy my time with them. Evergreen was sweet and girlish beneath the elegance and pomp she wore like a fine dress, Freed enjoyed intellectual conversations of all sorts and even confided in me that he sometimes missed having discussions like this, as no one on his team was much for academic debates like I was. Bickslow made crappy jokes and bothered everyone equally in a genuine attempt to keep them all entertained. Laxus just watched on with amusement, but I could see the joy and affection in his eyes. When he wasn't sending lightning at Bix to get him to shut up, that is. _

* * *

Despite Freed's best attempts, his basic first aid and healing runes could only help so much, so Lucy found herself with a huge bruise on her hip as she walked. This morning's round had been her and the Thunder Legion versus Laxus and she was still smarting from where she'd been launched into a tree.

"Hey, Ever, Bix," she called, curiosity getting the best of her. They both turned to look at her, cutting off their latest argument. "This might be horribly insensitive and feel free to tell me to mind my own business, but I was just wondering if your Stone Eyes and Seith Magic were genetic?"

They both faced forward and were silent for a few moments. Just as Lucy assured them that they really didn't have to answer, Evergreen shrugged.

"Supposedly it is." She gave a smile, but Lucy thought she saw bitterness in her brown eyes. "I was raised in an orphanage, so I don't actually know my birth parents."

"Oh," Lucy frowned, "I'm sorry." She still missed her mom dearly, but at least she had _known_ her mother. Evergreen hadn't even gotten that much.

"It's fine. I made my peace with it a long time ago." Evergreen's shoulders were tense, and she didn't look away from where her eyes were set on the horizon. Lucy didn't push it.

Bix was just as quiet, and Lucy worried to see him frowning instead of wearing his usual mad grin. "Seith Magic is actually considered a birth defect," he admitted quietly.

"What? But that's terrible!"

He shrugged, standing on his dolls and allowing them to float him forward. "Back before the countries were civilized and magic was recognized as a gift and not a curse, a magic so powerful that it permanently marked a child was considered a bane, a defect. Especially one that, when untrained, meant the death of anyone who was looked in the eye. We still don't know what causes Seith Magic, only that it's extremely rare." He kept frowning, his hands playing with where he kept his helmet on his belt when he didn't have to wear it. Lucy knew the look of someone lost in the past, and she didn't like it one bit.

"Well, it's a good thing Fairy Tail isn't so stupid." She huffed, scowling. "Honestly, people can be so moronic sometimes. As if natural magic is anything but a blessing. Most work their entire lives to learn magic and it _still _isn't as powerful as natural magic."

Bix looked back at her and grinned. "Aw, Cosplayer. You're so sweet to me." He waggled his eyebrows and Lucy glared.

"Shut it, Bix. Why do you have to go and ruin the moment?"

* * *

Laxus woke when the sun peaked over the horizon. They'd entered Bosco a week ago and were making good time, though the trees surrounding them made him itch. Too many spots to hide, too many places for someone to get ambushed. He liked the natural sounds of forests, but he preferred open land, where he could better watch his surroundings.

A great example would be this, right now. As he looked around their camp, he could see only three shapeless lumps that indicated his teammates. Blondie was missing. With a sharp inhale, he turned on his heels and headed deeper into the forest. A stream sat a few minutes away, and he could smell her from that direction. Probably getting water. He thought she'd be okay, but he wanted to double check that she had left of her own free will first.

As he got closer, he started to make out a voice, and what he saw when he cleared the tree line and stood on the edge of a little clearing surprised him. Facing him was Blondie, sat cross-legged on the ground in front of the stream with one of her Spirits next to her. A goat man, of some kind. Clearly meditating, but Laxus was surprised by the sheer magic power he could feel coming from her. A golden sphere surrounded her, so large it nearly filled the entire clearing.

"Hold it, Miss Lucy. Breathe, in and out. Hear the rustle of the leaves, the way the grass tickles your legs. Feel the wind through your hair. Continue to breathe, in and out. The world continues around you, but you have to focus on your magic as well. The way it flows through your veins, the power it gives your limbs." The goat man gave Laxus a look, clearly telling him to keep still and quiet. As if Laxus would interrupt this.

The air was thick with her magic, bright golden and warm. It glowed brighter for a second, and Lucy was hallowed in her own power, blonde hair seemingly glowing. Her Spirit _was _glowing, his owner's power clearly filling him.

"Good, Miss Lucy. Hold it for the count of ten now. Ten, nine, eight-" there was a warble in the magic, a ripple that made Laxus think it would collapse, but it stabilized in the next moment. "Seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one. Good. Now, bring it in slowly. Wrap it around yourself like a well-loved cloak." The sphere slowly shrunk, and Laxus saw it wrap around her. She glowed brighter for a moment, and Laxus felt his breath catch as her full power was concentrated in a single place. A blind rat would feel the sheer power in her. No wonder she could keep up with a monster like Erza.

As Lucy brought the power back into her, Laxus stepped back into the tree line so she wouldn't see him. No need for her to think he was a creepy stalker or something. When he heard her dismiss the Spirit- Capricorn- he made sure to step on a twig with a loud _snap_. She was standing when he walked out, his hands in his pockets.

"There you are, Blondie."

She gave him a glare, the same one that always said _'good morning to you, jerk'_ every time he failed to say good morning. Honestly, he found it amusing how she had a glare for something so small and inconsequential. Still, at this point he just kept doing it for kicks.

"Hey, Laxus. What are you doing up so early?"

"I was going to get everyone up so we could start moving, but then I noticed you were gone." He raised a brow, "I prefer not waking up to a missing teammate."

She rolled her eyes and headed over to him. While dirt and grass clung to her, he could still make out the fruit and lavender scent of her soap. Too bad Salamander's scent still hung onto her, even if it slowly faded. It wasn't lost on Laxus that his team's scent slowly overpowered her own's. Funny, how constant interaction with people for two weeks could affects someone.

By the time they'd returned, the others were already waking. Bix took one look at them, walking side by side out of the thick forest, and opened his mouth.

Only to shut it as he was forced to dodge several rapid bolts of lightning from Laxus. He scrambled to his feet, grinning brightly.

"Well, good morning then! Shall we get going?" Laxus rolled his eyes, and helped them pack everything up except for the bread and cheese they would eat for breakfast while walking.

Laxus didn't really mind long days of travel. It gave him time to lose himself in his music, or to watch his team interact with each other. It was nice to see their smiles again, nice to know that they were back in Fairy Tail. He didn't mind their time spent in Blue Pegasus, but it wasn't home.

This mission would be interesting, if only because the very idea of a different dimension, like Edolas, was interesting. Besides, Laxus figured that if this Kenpachi Zaraki guy was so tough, he might be a good fight. And he didn't really mind helping Blondie. Though, considering that showing from this morning, he was pretty sure she would do just fine on her own. She managed to hold her own in the morning spars, winning about a third of the time. He had once wondered how she survived the crazy shit Team Natsu got involved in, but then he'd seen her at the Grand Magic Games and thought that she had some serious balls. Now, after over an entire year from that point, she was even stronger.

As they walked, Laxus vaguely wondered what the effect of traveling with her would be.

* * *

When they stopped for the night in another forest clearing, Laxus settled against a tree, letting the firelight lull him. Between Blondie and Ever, they managed to make some sort of stew over the fire and Bickslow's low humming relaxed them.

"Here." Startled, Laxus drew his eyes away from the fire to find Lucy smiling down at him, a bowl of something smelling delicious in her hands.

He took it, and managed to shoot her a thankful look. She smiled, before settling on the ground next to him. A part of him wanted to shift away- she still smelled faintly like Natsu- but he managed to squash the urge.

Bickslow whistled. "Damn, Cosplayer. This is delicious."

"Evergreen helped."

"Yeah, but I know what her cooking taste like. This must be all you." Ever squawked and threw an extra bowl at his head. Laxus smirked, but couldn't help but agreeing. Ever was a decent cook, but for something made over a fire in the middle of the forest, this was on a whole other level. He could only assume that she had brought herbs with her.

"Uh, thanks." She blushed, and played with her food for a moment. "I used to sneak down to the kitchens at night to teach myself to cook. Once the head cook found out, he would help me."

"You had to sneak out to teach yourself to cook?" Bix asked.

"Well, yeah." She snorted, and rolled her eyes. "'A lady does not cook'. That's what my dad used to say. Apparently, it took away from my studies in business and management." She smiled sheepishly, and Laxus noticed her blush deepen in the firelight. "I mostly just did it to prove I could."

Ever laughed brightly and handed out seconds. "Well, I actually hate cooking. Used to be part of my chores in the orphanage. And because I was the oldest, I had to teach others after I reached my teens."

"Better than dance and decorum lessons," Lucy shot back.

"Maybe."

They faded to silence and Freed and Bix started washing the dishes. Laxus brought out the sleeping bags and pillows passing them around before adding more wood to the fire. It was peaceful, and soon Laxus stayed sitting and awake, the crackling fire his only company.

Above them, the canopy opened to a star filled sky. He couldn't spot the moon, but he didn't mind so much. Quiet moments like this, with the deep breathing of his team and the sounds of nature taking up the background made him really appreciated how far he'd come. Compared to two years ago- nine technically- he'd grown a lot. Thinking back to how he'd acted, what he had done, made him flinch. At least he would always have his guildmates to knock some sense back into him.

"The stars are beautiful, aren't they?" He twisted, eyes snapping to where Lucy had her sleeping bag next to him. He had thought she was asleep like the rest.

"Yeah." She rolled her eyes, and Laxus could almost swear that her eyes seemed to say, '_great conversationalist, as usual'_.

"Do you know the constellations?" she asked quietly.

"Some." She waited quietly, and Laxus figured he could stop being an ass for a little while. That _was _the whole point of growing up and leaving the guild. To do better. To _be _better. "Jiji used to take me up to the roof and show me the stars. He taught me a few." He didn't add that those were the nights that he woke up gasping for breath, that it felt like his chest was collapsing and air seemed to be a far off dream. Those quiet nights on the roof watching the stars had stopped after Laxus had gotten his Lacrima.

"Well," Blondie sat up, and pointed to a bright line of stars, "That's Orion. According to legend, he spied on the goddess Artemis while she was bathing, and as a punishment, she summoned a scorpion to kill him. Afterwards, she put both Orion and Scorpio in the stars so everyone would remember that she wasn't one to be messed with."

Laxus gave a low whistle. "Never heard that before. You have Scorpio, don't you? Have you asked him if there's any truth to it?"

"I do have his Key. But I once asked Taurus if the legends about the forming of the stars were true, and he told me that Celestial Spirits don't have memories of before they became constellations."

Laxus made a low humming sound to acknowledge her, but she didn't seem to mind his lackluster response as she just continued pointing out stars and telling him the stories behind them.

Spending a quiet night under the stars wasn't so unusual for Laxus. Having someone there to accompany him was, however. Still, he found himself not minding Lucy's steady presence, or soft voice. Scent of Salamander aside.

* * *

The next morning, Laxus woke to Blondie missing again. After seeing her magic though, he was more inclined to leave her be. Besides, she was a grown woman and wasn't even a real member of his team. She could take care of herself.

A mistake, considering that half an hour later she still hadn't returned. Grumbling about troublesome tag-alongs, he headed towards the small creek that was on the other side of the trees. A few steps away, he heard a yelp and rushed forward, worried that she got herself in trouble.

He was, of course, right. Dripping with water and utterly naked, Blondie was being held by a forest Vulcan, her arms pinned to her side and her Keys and whip clearly laid out on a pile of clothes on a rock out of the way.

"Let me go!"

"Hehe, woman."

"Pervert!" She kicked back, but the Vulcan held her away from his body, so it did little besides show off her long legs.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Laxus grumbled. In a single swift movement, a bolt of lightning struck the Vulcan and Laxus jumped to catch Blondie before she could injure herself further. Unfortunately, water conducts electricity, so by the time the Vulcan let go, lightning danced over Blondie's skin. She gasped, back arching in Laxus's arms.

"Sorry, Blondie." The lightning faded, and Laxus was left holding a hundred pounds of dripping blonde girl, shuddering in his arms.

"'S'alright," she muttered, body going lax, "Didn't actually strike me, just skated over my skin." She shuddered again, and Laxus furrowed his brows. He knew the feeling- as it often happened to him whenever his emotions got too strong- and usually all it did was raise the hairs on his arm and tickle a little. Perhaps this was a case where he was just desensitized to the feeling.

He was about to ask if she was alright when she looked up and blinked at him. Her face very quickly went beat red.

"Ah!" In the most ungraceful movement Laxus had ever seen_, ever_, she flailed and kneed him in the stomach. He dropped her and she scuttled backwards, arms across her chest. _That does very little_, Laxus wanted to say, before he decided that he would like to keep his balls. With a huff, he turned around and faced the tree line.

"Just hurry up and get dressed woman." There was rustling, and Laxus figured she did as asked. "What the hell were you even doing? You bathed last night." He knew she had, because Ever had threatened the guys with disembowelment if any of them so much as turned away from the fire, before disappearing towards the creek with Blondie in tow.

"I did hand to hand training with Capricorn, and I was sweaty. I didn't exactly expect to get attack by a Vulcan."

"You should've had your Keys on you. Or hell, summoned the squirt." There was a sharp intake of breath.

"That _squirt's name_ is Hitsugaya. And I was handling it. I didn't ask for your help."

Laxus scowled. Figured she wouldn't even bother thanking him for saving her sorry ass. An ass he suddenly had a very good mental picture of. Ugh, now he felt like a pervert. Not that she could blame him, considering it was her fault anyway.

"Fine. Next time, I'll let the giant lecherous monkey have you." There was the clinking of Keys, and Laxus assumed she had finished getting dressed. He stomped away, ignoring the dark muttering that followed him.

When they returned to camp, it was to find everything packed up and the Thunder Legion waiting for them with frowns.

"Is everything alright, Laxus-sama?" Freed asked.

Laxus grumbled, gave a sharp command to start moving, and turned up his music. This is what happens when he tries to help. A kick to the stomach and complaints. Next time, he really would just leave Blondie to deal with her own mess.

* * *

_Of all the_… Lucy fumed silently to herself, ignoring her burning face. She hated it when she somehow always ended up nude, or mostly nude, in fights with her own team, but with _Laxus_ it somehow got worse. She hadn't meant to be reckless, and she certainly hadn't intended to get in trouble with a Vulcan. _Perverts, the lot of them_, she thought viciously. Sometimes, she really hated being as cute as she was, because it made it so much easier for people to objectify and degrade her.

And Laxus! Just showing up and hitting the damn monkey with lightning while she was _right there. _Did he want to kill her?

A strange tingle went down her back and she shuddered at the memory of his lightning dancing along her skin. It had felt strange, like long nails lightly dusting across her skin, but so much stronger. But… it wasn't a _bad _strange. Just strange.

Ignoring her burning face and waving off Evergreen's curious eyes, she trudged down the road, eyes glued to the horizon.

She was so _not_ going down that road. Great muscles and hair aside, Laxus was not someone she wanted to even consider getting involved with. He was closed off and snappish, and clearly had no sense of privacy. Besides, they had nothing in common. Clearly, she was just getting desperate and that was not something to let herself slip into.

_He also came and saved me,_ another part of her said mutinously. Which, he did. But she hadn't needed saving. She would've summoned Toshiro if she hadn't been able to get out herself, and she _would have_. She was capable, damnit.

_And when exactly did I get so against being saved?_ She wondered. Natsu and her team saved her all the time. Not that they'd been around much lately. She'd had to learn to save herself over this past year, had to learn to fight well enough that she would never be put into a position similar to Tartarus ever again. _Well, I saved them then_, she remembered. Perhaps that was where this started. Lucy had been put into a position where the only person who could save herself had been her. She missed Aquarius dearly, but she couldn't really regret her choice since it had saved the lives of her friends. In the end, she was proud of herself for having the strength to do that. And she hadn't really required saving since.

Until she made a stupid mistake and let her guard down in unfamiliar territory. Lucy had thought she was fine because she was only a little way from camp and had grown over the past year. At nineteen, she could damn well do what she wanted. Yet she had still needed Laxus. He hadn't even hesitated to catch her when she was falling, and had even looked away when she had become so very aware of her nudity.

And she hadn't even thanked him.

Mulling over her thoughts occupied her all the way until they stopped for lunch. While Ever passed sandwiches to Freed and Bix, Lucy made her way to where Laxus leaned against a large boulder.

"Here." He took it without a word, but Lucy settled herself next to him, nonetheless. He had been scowling all morning, his Sound Pods set so loudly she could just make out the notes. He must be blowing out his sensitive eardrums. "Look," she picked at her sandwich, nibbling on some of the soft bread they'd gotten from the town they'd passed through yesterday. "I just wanted to say thank you." He didn't look her way, but his shoulders stiffened a bit, so she knew he heard. He must have turned down the music at some point. "While I'm not a huge fan of you seeing me naked, you did save me back there. So, thanks." Glancing up under her lashes, she saw him turn to face her a little more directly. He didn't speak, but Lucy was close enough to feel his shoulders loosen and he tipped his head to her. '_You're welcome'_, he seemed to say. "And I'm sorry about kicking you."

They sat in silence for a little longer, eating lunch and watching as Freed and Ever got in an argument and Bix played devil's advocate to whatever the topic was.

"I'm not going to stop training," Lucy said suddenly. Laxus paused in his eating.

"Normally I'd be supportive. But normally I don't have to worry about my teammates getting eaten by pervert apes."

"I'll be more careful, but I won't stop." He opened his mouth, but she glared at him and continued. "I'm nineteen years old, you can't stop me."

He scowled, but Lucy was already standing up straighter and taking a step towards Evergreen.

"Blondie." Laxus waited for Lucy to turn to him before saying, "You get hurt again, and _I'll_ be the one training you." Paling, Lucy nodded and hurried away.

Considering the crap she'd seen Laxus do during sparring matches, not to mention the way he and the guys worked out in the evenings, she had no interest in being trained by him.

Ever.

* * *

The next week passed slowly and a strange pattern seemed to emerge. Lucy would sneak away right before dawn- not that she was actually trying to sneak- to meditate and Laxus- who was most certainly sneaking, _but not stalking damnit_\- would follow to make sure she didn't injure herself. Or get involved with a perverted gorilla. Either was possible.

Most mornings they would have a quick sparring match, Lucy using Toshiro only once out of every three or four days. The match ups changed on a day to day bases, but Lucy was slowly starting to get a feel for the Thunder God Tribe's fighting style. They would eat breakfast on the road, before spending the day walking. They would stop for lunch and a short break, before continuing on. They hit a town every two days or so, where they would rent two hotel rooms and all shower and have a good night's rest. The nights they spent outside, the guys would workout while Lucy and Evergreen made dinner. Freed and Bix would clean up and Laxus would gather wood for the fire. Laxus tended to stay up late and sleep lightly to keep a lookout, and Lucy would stay up late to watch the stars.

Lucy found herself laughing with them, joining Evergreen in kicking Bix's ass when he made stupid jokes, debating the pros and cons of books with Freed. Having quiet moments in the night where she would tell the stories of the constellations to Laxus. He only ever made a few comments, usually on the stupidity of some of them, but was always a good listener. Lucy enjoyed herself greatly, and didn't even mind the constant eyes she felt on her when she left to train in the mornings. Laxus was always back in the camp, waking the others up and packing things away by the time she returned, but she had no doubt that he came to watch. It made her blush when she thought of it, but she supposed that he didn't trust her not to get in trouble. Considering what happened, she couldn't really blame him.

The only issue was the weather. Bosco was known for its storms, and as they were sticking to its Southern border, just skirting around the mountains, they were likely to get hit harder as it approached storm season.

One day, before they stopped for lunch, Laxus ordered shortly, "We keep moving. I can smell a storm coming and I want us in the next town before it hits." None of them complained, and they munched on some nuts as they continued walking. They had just stepped into the town- a small thing filled with square, stone buildings, the tallest being a three story church across the street from the only hotel- when thunder boomed and lightning arched across the sky. It began pouring, and they hurried in, but Lucy couldn't help noticing Laxus grinning.

Later that night, after Evergreen had already fallen asleep, Lucy slid out of bed. The windows rattled and the building shook with the forced of the thunder. Wearing her own grin, she dug through her bag quietly until she came up with a smoky grey bikini, a yellow bandana that she wrapped around her breasts, and light weight piece of purple fabric that she tied like a skirt around her waist- the colors of Bosco. She had been hoping for a storm like this, and had brought the things she would need. Fiore rarely got weather like what she wanted, so she hadn't had a chance to do this for very long time.

Ensuring she didn't wake Evergreen, Lucy quietly exited her room, then the hotel itself. She wanted to be close to the sky, to feel the thunder reverberate through her body like her mother had shown her. The one floor hotel wasn't good for that.

The sun had long since set, and the sky hovered, grey and black with clouds. Nonetheless, Lucy could still see by the purple and gold lightning flashing above. When she got to the back of the church, she noticed several minor ledges going up the wall. They were too far for her to jump to but-

In a flash, she had Loke's Key out and he appeared in golden light. "Been a while, Princess. I'm almost offended you haven't used me in your spars against Bickslow." Between the wind and rain, everything was so loud that he had to stand close and speak into her ear for her to understand him. She huffed and smiled.

"Maybe next time. For now, can you get me to the roof?" He looked at her like she was crazy, before taking in her outfit. His eyes softened and he nodded before picking her up. Lucy loved her Spirits. They knew her, even parts of her she hasn't shared with anyone else, so Loke understood why she wanted to do this.

In a few jumps, he had them on the flat roof, parapets surrounding them. "Thanks, Loke. You can go now."

"You sure you don't want me to stay?"

"Yeah." She smiled and waved to him as he faded.

Alone, Lucy looked around. There was a full wall on one end that appeared to be part of a small shed, that looked like it had an overhang, but otherwise the roof was solid stone, glistening with rain. Another boom of thunder hit, and she grinned at the sound. Walking to the center of the space, she closed her eyes and just focused on the storm around her. The sharp sting of rain pelting her bare skin, the rumble of thunder and crackling of lightning, the smell of ozone and fresh rain dancing in the air. She focused on the beat of the water on stone, on the music the wind made as it whistled through the air, the drumbeat of thunder. Lucy took another deep breath, focusing on the music nature made around her.

And then she moved.

* * *

Laxus loved storms. And he especially loved Bosco storms. They were loud, they were fierce, the were filled with the best lightning he'd ever tasted. No one on his team ever complained when he chose missions that had them going through Bosco, despite it meaning they often had to trek through bad weather. It was hard to find lightning to snack on, and they knew it.

As was his custom during one of these storms, he found himself on the tallest building in town, staring at the sky. It was a simple matter to teleport up and materialize just in time to suck the bolt of energy in. If any of the towns' people thought it was strange that arcs of lightning were cut short, they would just have to deal. Laxus liked to be higher than this- during the handful of storms Magnolia got every year, he would sit on the cathedral- because it meant less travel to get to his dinner, but he would make due.

He had just returned from getting a purple monstrosity of energy, landing on the flat roof of the church, when he noticed a figure moving towards the center of the area. Putting his back to the wall, he stayed still in the shadows. It took a moment to discern the figure from the sheets of rain, but he soon realized he was staring at Lucy. Blondie stood there for a moment, and he noticed her bizarre outfit. Yellow bandana, purple half skirt that left one leg bare and hung to the knee on the other, and _no shoes_.

_Idiot_, Laxus thought. Before he could move to drag her back inside before she caught her death, though, she started shifting. It took a second, but Laxus realized she was dancing. Hips rolling and feet moving only a few inches as her arms made graceful, sweeping movements. The long, slow moves were mixed with sharp, short ones, her feet falling apart as she dropped her upper body down so she was squatting while bending in half, before sweeping back up and her hips falling again into that steady beat that only she could hear. Blondie took a few steps, sending her body into an elegant spin around an invisible circle, arms crossed over her head in a strange belly dance. When she stopped, she twisted her feet a few inches to the right, then left, one arm crossing over her chest and the other seeming to push away at something as her back arched. She stood with a snap that was echoed by thunder.

_Traditional Bosconian dance,_ Laxus realized. Jiji had made sure he knew his history, and he'd read about the dances Bosco natives had often practiced during storms to celebrate the rain. They were still done today, but usually only in festivals. So how did Blondie know it?

Thunder rumbled and in the flash of lightning that followed, Laxus could clearly see as she clapped each of her elbows and twisted her hips in time to the roar. The wind picked up and she didn't even falter, one arm rising above her head to circle in the air while the other stayed extended in front of her as she moved back.

Laxus knew that the dance was made up of harsh, quick moves, mixed with slower, extended moves to represent the components of the storm; thunder, lightning, rain and wind. Yet he had never thought that a dance to represent something that was unbridled power could be so… elegant. Sharp movements aside, Lucy had a captivating smooth grace about her that Laxus hadn't expected.

As Laxus watched her dance, sharp eyes keeping track of her even in the rain, lightning flashed across the sky, untouched.

* * *

Lucy wanted to see how long she could keep going. The traditional dances of Bosco weren't exactly high speed, but they did take energy to keep in constant movement. She knew her mother had once gone on for two hours, and Lucy thought she might be able to get close to that if she kept her breathing even and focused on the energy in the air, rather than the energy she was expending.

She twirled, stopping abruptly when thunder filled the air and she snapped her forearms together before extending them upward and swaying with a huge gust of wind. She stepped back, ignoring the pinching in her feet from the hard stone. Her vision was getting disrupted, but she didn't care much, just kept with the movements. Because of her lack of vision she didn't notice the small, rain slicked pebble, or how she had gotten dangerously close to the low parapets. She took another step back, and put her weight down, beginning to arch her back. With only a second to realize what was happening, her leg slid out from under her and her uneven weight was sent flying back. Before she could reach for Loke's Key, she felt a rough, callused hand grab her wrist and pull her back up. Lucy startled to find herself being caught by Laxus.

"Laxus?" she asked in surprise. He raised an unimpressed eyebrow and said something, but the storm had gotten even louder, and she couldn't make him out. "I can't hear you."

He rolled his eyes but pulled her over to the small overhang she had noticed earlier. It blocked out a little of the howling wind, but they were still getting soaked. Not that Lucy cared considering she was already wet, and her hair and clothes were already clinging to her. Laxus drew her closer, wrapping an arm around her waist when she lost her balance. Blushing brightly, she held still as he positioned their heads so they could talk into each other's ears. Lucy very seriously didn't think about how Laxus wore his black pants and absolutely nothing else, or how in this position she could feel every inch of his surprisingly smooth, rain slicked muscles. And she was most certainly not thinking about the warmth radiating from him or the way lightning sparked over his shoulders.

"If you're going to do a dance like that, you should've done it somewhere that you wouldn't risk fallen and breaking your neck."

"I would've summoned Loke first!" The rest of his words registered, and she blushed even brighter. "Wait, you _saw me_?"

"This is a lightning storm, Blondie, and this is the highest building in town. I've been out here since we checked in." Dragon Slayer, right.

"It must be hard to eat your element," she mused quietly. He snorted, and Lucy took that as a yes. Now that she wasn't moving, the rain was soaking into her skin and she shivered. Laxus pulled back enough to look at her and frown, before he tugged her closer against his chest and turning them, pushed her against the stone wall- that had heat coming from it, she realized. Must be where they kept their heating Lacrima- and putting himself between her and the howling wind. Actually, Laxus put himself between her and everything, because she couldn't see past him.

God, had his shoulders always been so broad? And why did she have to be nearly a foot shorter than him?

He used one arm to brace himself on the wall next to her head, but the other stayed wrapped around her waist. As he shifted, the lightning that had been lightly dancing across his skin- probably a side effect of the storm- skated down his arm and sent shots across her back. She suppressed a moan at the warm prickles and just prayed that Laxus couldn't see her burning face in the darkness.

Laxus seemed to freeze suddenly, and Lucy peered at him curiously. If it wasn't for the lightning that flashed across the sky right then, she wouldn't have been able to see anything. As it was, she could just make out his flared nostrils, and eyes lingering on her face darkening with… something. He leaned forward, and for half a second Lucy thought he might actually kiss her, but he abruptly moved his head to the side and spoke into her ear. Relieved, she listened.

"Where did you learn one of the traditional dances for Bosco?"

Surprised, she asked, "How did you know what it was?" He pulled back enough to shoot her a look that clearly said, _'I was educated'_ and she rolled her eyes at him. "Okay, point taken." Her heartbeat calmed down, and she leaned back to get a little comfier. Not that a stone wall with two-hundred pounds of hard muscle blocking her in counted as comfy. "My mother was a native to Bosco. She taught the dance to me before she died." She shrugged, but smiled a little. "Dad freaked when he found out. Said a lady doesn't dance like a barbarian. Mom told him that if I was going to respect the status giving to me by him, I would damn well learn the traditions of my mother's side as well. I had to sneak out as a kid to do it after she died, but it's my way of being closer to her." He nodded, and Lucy took a moment to appreciate the strangeness of the situation. She had never told Team Natsu that, mainly because it had never come up. Yet here she was, pinned against a wall in the middle of a huge thunderstorm, explaining something to Laxus of all people.

Still, he had saved her from falling and potentially hurting herself, so she supposed it was a good thing he ate lightning and had come out for a midnight snack.

"Hey, Pikachu," while she couldn't see his face because she was speaking into his ear, she could _feel_ the glare he shot at her. She smirked, pleased that something so innocuous could get under his skin. "Why did you choose lightning as your element?"

He paused, and Lucy waited patiently. She had been noticing that he wasn't much for big speeches, but preferred to use body language with short statements for communication. "My mother was a lightning mage, but she died during my birth, so I never met her. When Ivan," Lucy wasn't even surprised that he didn't call him 'father', "Decided that I needed to have a Lacrima implanted, I begged him to make it a lightning one. It was about the only time he actually listened to me." She felt his entire body shrug, and figured that this was his way of being closer to his mom. At least her death so early on would explain why Lucy had never heard of her. It was sad, that Laxus had never met her. Perhaps if she had helped raised him, the Battle of Fairy Tail never would've taken place.

"You know," she said softly, "My mother used to tell me that the stars watched over me. But one day, when the sky was super cloudy, I asked if that meant they couldn't see me. So, she took me outside, and told me to point out where the constellations would be if I could see them. By the time I had finished all the ones I knew, there was a patch of clear sky with stars shining through. She said to me, 'simply because you cannot see something, does not mean it's not there. The stars will watch over you, whether you see them or not. Just like I will, _izar_.' She died a month later, but her words stayed with me. I guess what I'm trying to say is, your mom is probably watching over you still."

"Star?" Laxus asked quietly. Lucy didn't even know why she was surprised. _Of course_, Laxus knew Basque, Bosco's native language. While a continental language was developed around the time the kingdoms began interacting with each other, each country still had a native tongue.

"It's what she would call me. And how many languages do you _know_?"

He huffed a laugh, and Lucy blushed again at the warm sound. "Three, not including the continental language. Japanese, Basque, and Serbian." The native tongues for Fiore, Bosco, and Seven respectively. Lucy only knew Basque and Japanese, but it was nice to know she had a teammate that could speak the original language of Seven, Fiore's biggest ally.

_Temporary teammate_, she reminded herself. She was still a member of Team Natsu, even if she was joining up with the Thunder God Tribe for now. Even if she enjoyed herself immensely.

"Jiji," Laxus said quietly, and Lucy refocused immediately. It seemed like a rare thing that Laxus shared anything personal, and she wouldn't disgrace it by being distracted. "Used to tell me stories about my mother. Ivan refused to speak of her, so Jiji took it upon himself to show me pictures and tell me stories. He once told me that she would go out and sit in the middle of thunderstorms, just watching the sky and redirecting the lightning if it came too close. He said that if she had lived, she probably would've taken me out there too."

"My mother used to sing me a lullaby on the eighty-eight constellations. Told me it had been passed down the Heartfilia line for generations." He gave her a questioning look and she explained, "The Heartfilia name is passed through women. My mother once said that if I didn't find a guy willing to take my last name, then he clearly wasn't good enough to marry."

His lips twitched, and he murmured, "Your mother sounds like she would've fit into Fairy Tail."

"Yeah," Lucy grinned, eyes softening at the thought. "I think she would be proud of me for finding such a crazy family and maintaining my sanity."

Laxus laughed loudly, and Lucy found it only mildly creepy when thunder echoed it. "What makes you think you have any remaining sanity?" She huffed and slapped his shoulder, but he just kept smirking. Her eyes were drawn to his bare shoulder, though, which brought up another question.

"Why did you get those tattoos? They look tribal."

"I have no idea what they mean," he said, eyes sliding over the black markings. "But Jiji had a picture of my mother in a swimsuit, and I could see that she had the same ones. Jiji said that he knew they were a family thing for her, but that she had never said what they represented or what they were for." He rolled his shoulders, loosening them from what Lucy realized must be a horribly uncomfortable position for him. "I got them when I was sixteen, after Ivan was kicked out of the guild."

Lucy nodded, and offered another memory of her mother. The storm eventually calmed down to a gentle rain, but they just stood there, held closely together and exchanging pieces of what they knew about their families. Small pieces of the past that didn't mean much in the bigger picture but that they held close to their hearts. It was so late that Lucy was barely paying attention to what she was saying, and they were both tired enough that their lips were looser than usual, but not so exhausted that they wanted to stop. Lucy confessed to being terrified of being enslaved, of having her choices taken away from her either by magic or simply by virtue of someone threatening her friends. Laxus murmured that his greatest fear was accidentally hurting his friends again, when he'd been trying so hard to keep them safe. They exchange stories of the year Fairy Tail was disbanded, and how Lucy had used modeling as a step into Sorcerer Weekly so she could start writing. How Laxus had joined Blue Pegasus and was extremely uncomfortable with the way everyone seemed fine with just having a bunch of women around to ogle at them.

It was strange, to offer so much to someone she barely knew. Yet, in their little bubble of calm, Lucy couldn't really bring herself to regret it.

* * *

When Lucy yawned twice in the space of a minute, with her eyes dropping, Laxus decided it was time for bed. Scooping her up, bridal style, he ignored her protests and used his lightning to teleport to the roof of their hotel. By the time he was popping open the door and entering, her eyes had fluttered close and she had relaxed fully against his bare chest. Very certainly not thinking about the way her already revealing outfit clung to her, accentuating her generous curves and long legs.

When he got to her room, he gently shook her to wake her up. She was still bleary eyed, but she managed to stay on her feet and crack open the door.

"Change before you pass out," he ordered. "You'll slow us down if you get sick."

She nodded through another yawn and waved to him. "'Night, Pikachu. P'mise I won't slow us down. We c'n leave b'ight 'n e'rly."

He huffed, and pushed her gently into her room. Honestly, she was slurring worse than Cana. "Goodnight, Blondie."

Laxus entered his own room, taking a moment to register Freed's soft breaths and Bix's snores as he pulled off his soaking pants and changed into a clean pair of boxers after drying off. With that out of the way, he collapsed onto his bed, letting his back muscles loosen against the coarse fabric of the hotel sheets. He closed his eyes, but Lucy's face flashed through his mind, cheeks tinged pink, lips parted, and water clinging to her eyelashes.

When he had placed her against the warm wall, he had made sure to hold onto her so she would keep her balance. He'd been close enough that, even with the rain and ozone filling his nose, he could make out the barely-there arousal that appeared around her. He had been so surprised that he had frozen, and with the way she had looked at him… he had been about a second away from throwing all common sense to the wind and kissing her despite it being a horrible, horrible idea, when the air had cleared for a second and he had made her scent out beneath the storm. Fruit and lavender, with a distinct hint of fire and smoke hanging around. She _still_ smelled of Salamander, even when it had been at least a month since she had last seen him. Dragon scents lasted longer, a bonus when it came to marking one's territory, but it was also a warning. Luckily, it had knocked some sense into Laxus before he did something monumentally stupid.

It was one thing to have a one night stand with a woman you picked up at a bar. It was _completely different _to even think about doing something like that with a guildmate that you saw regularly. Especially a woman that basically screamed "I want a commitment". Which meant that whatever shit Laxus needed to get out of his system would absolutely not involve Lucy.

Even if she did look amazing wearing his colors and smelling of a thunderstorm.

* * *

**I will forever consider purple and gold Laxus's colors and you can pull that headcannon out of my cold dead hands**  
**ALSO YOU ARE ALL AMAZING. I'm getting so much love for this fic and it is blowing my mind. You are all so great thank you for your support**


	5. Chapter 5

**Soooooooo, I'm still alive. Honestly, I wanted to finish this arc up in two chapters before I started posting, but it's been a while and considering the state of the world, I figured ya'll could use something to cheer you up. This chapter was originally two, but I decided to throw them together. Next chapter will be the end of this arc. Considering how everything is insane right now, I make no promises for when the next update will be.**

**On another note, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. Seriously, there's so much love for this fic, and I can't believe it. You're comments keep me going.**  
**I hope you all enjoy, and please stay safe and healthy in these trying times.**

* * *

**Even if she had to drag every drop of power from within her**

* * *

Streams of warm sunlight woke Lucy, which surprised her considering Evergreen usually woke her up for training on the days she skipped core training with Capricorn. Eyes bleary, limbs heavy, Lucy lurched into a sitting position on her bed. An empty room greeted her, and it was clear by the clock that it was closer to afternoon than morning.

Cursing, she stumbled into a quick shower, drying off and getting dressed in a short skirt and t-shirt in record time. Pulling her wet hair back, she opened the door with her hip and hurried into the hallway.

Where a wild Pikachu awaited, hair heavy with water. Lucy paused, waiting for him to greet her as she had come to do every morning. When he continued to look at her silently, blank face somehow conveying amusement, she puffed out her cheeks. Fine, she would be the polite one.

"_Good morning, Pikachu_." He grunted. That's it. Just a grunt. _This _was the man she had traded childhood stories with yesterday?

_Storm thundering, water trailing down their bodies, heat trapped between them, whispers dancing in the air._

Face warming, she shoved the memory away. She felt irritation. _Irritation_. Nothing else.

"Is there a reason no one bothered to wake me up?"

"Decided to stay another night. We'll take off tomorrow morning." She blinked, wondering why he would decide to do that. They'd never stayed longer in any town than necessary. Another memory whispered through her mind.

_"You'll slow us down if you get sick_." Did he… did he actually think she would've slowed them down? Sure, she would've been tired if they'd gotten up at their usual time, but she wouldn't have complained. The entire reason the Thunder God Tribe was even here had to do with her, so there was no way she would've slowed them down. Did Laxus actually have so little faith in her?

Apparently, he did.

"Fine," she ground out, ignoring his scrunched brows, "I'm going for a walk then. I'll be back later tonight." With a twist of her heels, she marched out, picking a random direction and heading towards the forest that bordered the town. Plue joined her as soon as she reached the tree line.

"I can't believe him!"

"Pun punn."

"Just assuming I was going to slow us down and pre-empting that by telling us to hang around for an extra day. It's ridiculous! When have I ever slowed us down, or even complained?"

"_Punn_." Lucy's face burned at the reminder. She had been a bit of a complainer before Fairy Tail had disbanded. Not to mention she'd always been a burden on Team Natsu.

"Okay, I'll give you that Plue. But I've been trying really hard this time! I haven't complained about sleeping out in the elements, the workouts." She fiddled with her Key ring, silver and gold glinting. "Laxus offered to help me when he didn't need to. I don't want to be a burden on him or the team." She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. So, Laxus told them all to take a day off because he was worried she couldn't handle keeping on after a late night of confessions. So what?

So, he didn't have faith in her. It was _one _late night. She would've been fine!

"Ugh!"

"Uh, Lucy-san?"

"Gyah!" Jumping, she found in all her meanderings she'd somehow ended up by Freed and Bickslow, clearly just finishing up a spar. Evergreen was nowhere to be seen. They all regarded each other for a moment, the men taking in Lucy's puffed up cheeks and companion.

"So," Bickslow finally began, "What'd the big guy do this time?"

Lucy contemplated brushing it off, telling them it didn't matter. Because _it didn't,_ not really. They would leave tomorrow and everything would go back to usual and Lucy would take the hit to her pride. She'd be over it by the time they reached their destination. But it hurt that Laxus thought so little of her, especially after last night.

"He told us to stay!" she burst out. Barely registering Freed's raised brows and Bickslow's tilted head, she barreled on, words streaming from her mouth. "I can't believe it. I _told _him I'd be fine, that it didn't matter we were up late in the storm, and then he goes and tells us to stay for another day! Does he listen _at all_?"

"Wait," Freed held up a hand. "You were up with Laxus in the storm last night?"

"Er, yeah?"

"Huh." Freed fell silent, and Lucy waited for a follow up, but he began mumbling something under his breath. Bickslow picked up the slack.

"Look, Cosplayer." She didn't even bother trying to correct him anymore. "While I appreciate you further proving my point that you two should bang-"

"_What?!_"

"-Laxus didn't tell us to hang around 'cause of you."

"Wait, what?"

"When we woke him up this morning, he was a huge grouch. Nearly bit my head off for no reason."

"You screeching that thing you call music next to his ears constitutes a good reason," Freed piped in.

"Hush Pretty Boy. Your wrongness is interfering with me comforting our mascot."

"I'm not your mascot."

"Why won't you let me finish?!" Freed and Lucy shared a sheepish smile while Bickslow huffed before finishing. "Boss man was so tired he told us to take the day to rest so he could sleep."

"So… he told us to stay so _he _could catch up on sleep?"

"Yep."

"Oh." That was good. Good that he didn't think she was a burden. But he could've just told her that.

Freed's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't happen to have done something ill-mannered towards Laxus-sama, did you?" Er, she had been a little grouchy with him earlier. And she hadn't exactly let him explain himself, had she? But surely he'd just brush that off like he always did?

* * *

Once, long ago, when Macao had been a much younger man, he'd imparted a wisdom on Laxus. "Never believe you understand a woman. The second you do, that's the second she'll turn around and do the exact opposite of what you expect her to." Laxus hadn't really understood then, chalking it up to an old man's grumblings.

He thought he understood now.

Here he was, giving Blondie a good excuse to take a day off and rest. Something he _thought_ she'd appreciate. Hadn't she been a princess at one point? She certainly liked her fancy hair things and he knew her to be a creature of comfort. All he got for his efforts? Storming off to Mavis knew where. Actually, Mavis probably didn't even know, magic tactician or no.

_This_ was the exact reason why he'd been a dick. Being nice wasn't only harder, it turned up nothing in rewards. He needed a distraction, Laxus mused. Something to distance himself from the stupid, _stupid_, thoughts he'd been having lately.

The village had little to offer in the way of entertainment, so after Laxus assured himself Blondie was safe with Bix and Freed, he turned to the classics; pubs and sex.

Singular pub, actually, considering it stood alone in this town. At least when the sun went down it filled up quickly. Laxus didn't get drunk often, mainly because he tended to do stupid shit when drunk and he had little control. That didn't stop him from enjoying himself as he struck up a conversation with a cute brunet and firmly put all thoughts of blondes from his mind.

* * *

Late that night, stars guiding his way down the street, Laxus returned to the hotel and quietly showered, ensuring he didn't wake his slumbering teammates. Smell of sex fully dispelled, he slipped out of his room and poked his head into the one across the hall. The curtains were drawn open, leaving the women bathed in starlight. For some reason they shared the same bed. Satisfied, Laxus began to back out, floor creaking beneath his weight.

"Lax?" He paused, eyeing Blondie's form. Rubbing her eyes, she half propped herself up, voice a whisper.

"It's me."

"S'rry I was a bitch earlier."

He rolled his eyes. "Go back to sleep, Blondie."

"Rude. The correct response was," she interrupted herself with a yawn. Laxus echoed her. Snorting softly, she fell back on her bed. "Oh, never mind. 'Night Pikachu."

Silently shaking with laughter, Laxus managed a "'Night," as he backed out. Lucy's soft snores echoed behind him.

First, she was mad for no reason, then she apologized for no reason. Did she ever make sense?

Women.

* * *

A week later, they found themselves on a train in Stella, heading fast for their goal. When they disembarked in three days, they would have only a two day walk to their best guess of the location for the warrior village.

Sadly, that still involved three days on a train where they got a private compartment, but not one with beds. As it turns out, the area of Stella they were headed towards was quite the tourist spot. The seats were at least comfortable, if not big enough for any of them to lie down.

On the first night, Lucy jealously eyed her slumbering teammates. Bix sprawled out on the floor, his jacket acting as a pillow, while Evergreen and Freed stretched on the seat curled together. If Lucy didn't know better, she'd say they were in a relationship. Funny how constant interaction with someone can make you care so little for privacy or social norms.

"You're still awake." Jerking, Lucy turned to Laxus. He leaned against the window, Sound Pods on. She'd thought he'd been sleeping.

"Yeah," she murmured, quiet. The train had stopped a few minutes ago, likely to refuel and change passengers despite it being one in the morning. "Can't sleep. What about you? I thought for sure you'd sleep through the nausea."

His lips twitched. "I don't sleep much on trains, especially with the nausea. Even if I did, stopping would wake me up."

Frowning, she leaned towards him, ignoring his raised brows. He had a light covering of sweat on his forehead. While he kept quiet, motion sickness affected him just as much as Natsu. She wished she had a spirit with healing magic so she could help. Maybe one of the shinigami captains did? She'd have to ask Toshiro when she saw him next.

"Did no one ever tell you it's rude to stare, Blondie?" Narrowing her eyes, she reared back.

"As if I want to hear that from you. I'm not sure any Fairy Tail mage knows manners."

"You realize you're a member too, right?" Opening and closing her mouth, she searched for a response. Laxus smirked in amusement.

"Okay, fine. It's too late for me to be witty." She yawned, swaying as the train started moving again. Laxus's lips pressed together, and she wondered how bad his motion sickness got. Wendy's didn't start until recently, Gajeel's only started during the Grand Magic Games, but Natsu's had been going on for several years before she met him. Clearly it wasn't age that played a role. Strength, then? Laxus's must be terrible.

"You're still staring."

"How bad is your motion sickness?"

He watched her for a moment, brows scrunched together. "Why?" She explained her reasoning to him. He hummed for a moment, eyes slipping closed around a yawn. "Well, I never really thought of it that way. I've had it since I was a teenager, but you have to remember that I'm second generation. Ivan put my Lacrima in my head," he tapped his scarred eye, "In the hopes it'd mean my dragon senses would be even stronger than normal. He was right, but it also meant the side effects of Dragon Slayer magic were increased as well."

"Is that why your Dragon Force changes your appearance so much? Compared to the others, I mean."

"How you know what my Dragon Force looks like?"

She shrugged. "Natsu told me all about the fight during Fantasia. Thinking back on it, you must have been using Drago Force right?" He nodded, body tensing. Lucy only barely realized he probably didn't like the reminder of what he'd done. Not that it mattered now. He'd apologized and made up for it. If Levy could forgive Gajeel to such an extent that she fell in love with him, there was absolutely no reason for any of them to continue holding the Battle of Fairy Tail against Laxus and his team.

But perhaps it wasn't so easy to make them forget the mistakes of the past.

Lucy yawned again, and very seriously contemplated laying down with Bix. She couldn't stretch out on the bench without being in Laxus's space, and she didn't want to make him uncomfortable while being sick. But she liked to sleep slightly curled on her side.

She barely registered an arm reaching around her before she felt herself tugged against something distinctly warm and hard.

"Laxus!" she hissed, masking the glowing blush on her face with anger. He shifted, putting his back against the wall and tugging her more firmly against his chest.

"If you keep yawning, you're going to keep me up."

"I thought you don't sleep on trains," she shot back, wiggling in hope to escape. He couldn't be comfortable, she thought. Not with his legs placed on the floor and his torso twisted to face the other way. He'd likely get terrible muscle cramps.

"Doesn't mean I don't try. Now, hush Blondie." He plopped his head against the wall.

"You can't be comfortable in this position."

Lucy felt a growl rumbled through his chest, but happily shifted away when his arms released her. Three seconds later, she figured out why though. He swung one leg up onto the bench so he was facing her properly before bringing her back against him. With his leg taking up a fair share of the seat—_seriously, what is he made of? Tree trunks?_ —Lucy had to turn so she laid on her side facing the back of the bench or risk falling off. His arms reached around her keeping her balanced and pinned against his chest.

"I could sue for sexual assault," Lucy protested. Laxus huffed, the puff of air stirring her hair. Pressed as close to him as she was, her head rested between his neck and shoulders.

"Not if you're too sleep deprived to function." She really wanted to argue against that, but she could feel Laxus's natural body heat—higher than Natsu's even—lulling her. Why had she thought this was a bad idea? Right, the fact that she felt attracted to him physically. Not that it mattered. Nothing would happen between them.

Lucy fell asleep before she could convince herself to move.

* * *

Laxus was clearly a masochist. That was the only possible reason that he'd done this to himself. Much as he wanted Lucy to be comfortable, he could've pretended to be asleep and ignored her shifting and progressively more exhausted yawns. Instead, he'd pinned a woman that smelled of another Dragon Slayer against him in such a way that he had no choice but to inhale her scent with every breath.

Masochist.

Whatever, he'd deal. If nothing else, focusing on the fruit in her scent kept him distracted from the nausea. At least the train ride had been relatively smooth so far.

* * *

Masochism confirmed. Only an idiot or a masochist would taunt the world as he did, and now he paid the price. Wind blew so strongly that the train rocked with it, and Laxus struggled with staying sitting.

Morning had come in the form of everyone waking when breakfast came by, stealing Laxus's distraction. A very red distraction that hadn't looked him in the eye this entire time. Apparently, he'd made her uncomfortable. Which was fine, because at least she'd slept, and it wasn't as if she'd be with them forever.

And then the stupid tornado level winds had started, and the motion sickness had become so much worse. He swore he could hear what little water he'd managed to consume sloshing in his stomach, aching to come out. _I will not throw up. I will not throw up._

"Laxus?" _Mavis, I'm going to throw up_. His team eyed him warily, worry painted across their faces. At least Lucy could look him in the eye again. Not that that was important. Nope.

The track curved, howling wind providing accompaniment to the _click, clack_ that echoed his death march. He tilted along with the train.

Something small wrapped around his neck, pulling his body further into the tilt until he collapsed on his side, head pillowed by something soft.

_Fruit and lavender, hints of steel and flowers, snow and ink, fresh winds and wood, smoke and ozone._

Lucy, he concluded. Lucy's lap, actually. When had he gotten here?

Nails scrapped along his scalp; a soft humming so close it almost drowned out the rest of the world. Relaxing, Laxus let the sound soothe him.

* * *

The last days of walking were filled with Lucy very strongly putting any thought of the train ride out of her mind. She'd slept against Laxus during the second night as well, just as he laid in her lap during the last days. _You scratch my back, I scratch yours_, she reminded herself. A business deal with some guildmates. That's all this was.

Luckily, the forest that filled the last leg of the trip gladly distracted her via absurd monsters. Herds of boar like creatures with jewels on their backs, rhinos of all things, and carnivorous deer seemed to all make their homes here and were all highly aggressive.

On the bright side, it didn't take long for them to find the village. Or to be found.

Just as Lucy canceled her Leo Star Dress after the latest battle, her teammates each standing down, they found one more in the clearing. The gentlemen stood tall, with broad shoulders and hair shorn short.

"What brings great warriors to this part of the country?" he asked.

"We're looking for a village," Lucy explained, after exchanging looks with Laxus. "It's said to home powerful warriors. We think it might have something we're searching for." Turning on his heel, the man left. Exchanging shrugs and uneasy glances, they followed.

* * *

_The village, which we learned was named 'Cathal', came into sight shortly after meeting the stranger. Most homes were made of giant stones, welded together or carved out. Like free standing caves. We were led until we came to what was clearly the village center and met Alger. Tall, with short dark hair, he looked similar to every other citizen we'd seen. He explained that this village didn't interact much with outsiders, but as he'd been told of our strength, he'd listen to our desire._

_I explained to him my quest for the Keys and what they meant to me. He confessed to having not only one, but _two_. Alger said that these were the villages greatest treasures though, and not just to be handed out to "Pale skinned, lazy boned, aristocrats." However, he agreed to give them to us anyway. _If _we defeated his strongest warriors in group combat. For the sake of Toshiro and his allies, we agreed._

* * *

They were led to an open arena, seats rising around the edge of the ring. Based on the dark stains Lucy eyed in the dirt, battles appeared to be a common pastime for these people. Lovely.

After going over the rules—no killing and no leaving the battle ground, honestly not much of a list—the tribe chief called a start to the battle. Immediately everything dissolved into chaos and Lucy reached for her Keys. The five warriors all looked vaguely similar with broad shoulders and heavily muscled, even the one woman. In a flash each had weapons appearing in their hands. _Requip users_. So, they just had to fight five Erzas. No problem.

Oh Mavis.

The group broke off, each coming for a member of the Thunder God Tribe. Faced with a woman wielding a javelin, Lucy focused on the fight and put the rest of the squad out of her mind. With a twist of her Keys and a shout, Taurus appeared in a blast of bright light. Descending into the familiar uniqueness that each battle gave was easy now. Attack with the whip, dodge the throwing knives that appeared out of nowhere, let Taurus charge as she switched to her Star Dress, attack with a Lucy Kick. No fight ever let you fall into a pattern. The only familiarity fell with the pounding blood in her ears and tang of copper in the air from the hits that landed. Only the sweat, the ache of her muscles, the constant knowledge of _win-or-die_ lasted through all battles.

The ground shook, light blasting through the air while her ears rang. One of the other combatants flew between her and her own enemy. From the other side of the ring, steal rang against skin, the sickening give of flesh and blood giving way. Next, Evergreen flew through the air, leg bleeding heavily.

Cursing, Lucy reached for her, only to dodge back at the last second as her instincts screamed.

"Don' get distracted on me," her opponent said with a grin. "Gryal will take care of your friend."

"Don't get distracted, Lucy!" Taking Evergreen's advice, even as she stood back up and threw herself in the fighting again, Lucy jumped back again as Taurus reared and slammed his axe into the ground. Her opponent jumped using the force in the ground to launch herself at Taurus. At the last moment, the axe in her hands switched to a long spear, easily sliding past Taurus's defense to land a powerful blow. Lucy felt the ripple in her magic, unsurprised when Taurus began dematerializing. She retreated, trying to regain her breath. Things had been going on for so long now, she knew something had to change.

The warriors weren't extremely powerful, but they had stamina and training on their side. Not to mention, they seemed to have weapons for every situation. Glancing around, she noticed her team were all in a similar position to her own. Even Laxus, who she thought would already be finished, was stalled. With every attack dodged, no matter his teleportation, he seemed to only be frustrated. Large, area affect attacks were useless when all their fights were overlapping. Even now, Freed got launched into Bix, causing the latter's shot to get disrupted.

She cried out as an iron arrow caught her in the arm, barely managing to back spring away from the slash of twin daggers in the next second. She couldn't reply to Evergreen or Bix's calls, air tight in her lungs as she evaded.

"Ignore her!" She dimly heard Laxus call, already reaching for her Keys. "Blondie is capable!"

Truly, a glowing endorsement.

"Loki!" Another flash of gold, this even brighter, and she finally had breathing room. Even as she dived back in though, Star Dress warping over her, she knew they couldn't keep this up. All five of them needed something to end this fight, all at once. Of course, with them all split up like this, that didn't seem very likely. Honestly, at least when Team Natsu fought, they spread out so they wouldn't be in each other's way. Of course, when the Thunder God Tribe battled, they usually did it together.

Which begged the question why weren't they doing it now?

"I'm such an idiot. Everyone, just like last week!" It took several agonizing seconds before she received acknowledgement.

"Why?!" Bix screeched, voice embarrassingly high pitched.

"Just do it!" Laxus responded, hitting away his opponent and running towards the center of the field. Lucy reached for her waist, calling Scorpio and Virgo.

As sand picked up, she reached for her magic, pulling for her Scorpio Star Dress as all visibility became zero. Beneath her feet, the ground dropped. She raced through the tunnel Virgo had already made, knowing the opening would close behind her. She reached the middle of the field, letting the ground rise beneath her as she was met with Freed and Bix.

"Why would you suggest this, Cosplayer?"

"Because I want dinner before the sun sets." A pause followed at they reached ground level and Lucy felt Virgo close her Gate.

"Fair."

"Freed?" Laxus asked, coming next to them. Evergreen floated in the air above them.

"Enchantments are done."

"Virgo finished closing all the tunnels," Lucy offered.

With a nod, Laxus turned away and began calling down lightning. As he started on the furthest reaches of the arena, Lucy felt the magic build all around them. Leaving Freed and Laxus in the center, Lucy, Bix, and Ever all took to the air and headed for the outer ring, Laxus's letting them through in a small patch clear of lightning.

Last week had involved only a single training session, due to various influences. The training session in question though had involved an everyone against Laxus round. In a desperate bid, Lucy had used Scorpio to kick up a sandstorm to blind Laxus while they had all tried to herd him to the center of the clearing in use for an attack from all of them. Of course, Bix had gotten smacked out of the air like a fly and hadn't forgiven Lucy for the failed plan yet.

Despite this, Laxus's lightning on their side made everything much easier. While Freed maintained the enchantments that pushed enemies closer to the center as it got smaller, and Laxus continued striking with lightning, forcing them to move anyway, the rest circled in the air with ranged attacks, insuring they didn't find a way around the enchantments and out of the trap.

With a few minutes, Laxus jumped into the air, arm around Freed. Lightning coalesced in the center, energy crackling in the air. Scorpio dispersed his sandstorm before his Gate closed, leaving Lucy to follow the others to the edge of the arena to escape the backlash of Laxus.

With a deafening crack, the energy dispersed, leaving only five passed out bodies, and absolute silence. Taking stock of herself and the others, Lucy thought they did rather well. Laxus had a bruise coloring his jaw, and Evergreen seemed to have several cuts like Lucy, Bix and Freed only a little banged up.

"Well," Alger began, stepping closer while carrying a metal disk. "It seems you've kept up your end of the bargain. Here, these are yours." Hands shaking, heart bounding, Lucy reached out. It couldn't be this easy. Two Keys, both solid black, lay glistening on the disk. They'd traveled for weeks, spending nights mostly outside. Tension had been wound around her core, a constant bone deep belief that she'd fail, that she would never be able to find any of these Keys, and now here she stood. Blood and sweat covered her, obsidian cool beneath her fingers. They both had '11', one etched in black, the other red.

She remembered what Toshiro had said. The eleventh division stood for fighting and strength. That the third seat likely also had a Key. Considering for a moment, she decided she wanted to summon both together and likely didn't have enough power for that tonight.

"Thank you," she said instead, voice gruff from the battle. She'd yelled less than usual, she thought. The year training, and even more the time spent with Laxus and the others, had paid off.

The village chief nodded, declaring, "We will have a banquet tonight."

* * *

The next morning, Lucy felt well fed and rested for the first time in a while, magic at full peak. Too bad that didn't last long.

The second she pushed her magic in the Obsidian Key for the eleventh captain, she felt a drop like nothing else. Nearly double what Toshiro took to summon, easily the equivalent of holding four golden gates open. If she hadn't been training with Capricorn for so long, she had no doubt she would've passed out.

Instead, red light filled around her, building into a bright pillar before revealing the captain. Tall, broad shouldered, black hair formed into spikes ending in tinkling bells.

And power. Such magic power, pressing down on her from every side, her bones shook from it. Only meeting his eyes, each gleaming with something dark and hungry, sitting above the largest, most bloodthirsty grin she'd ever seen, stopped her from collapsing. This was the kind of man who respected power, and nothing else. If she ever wanted him to help her, she'd have to earn that right.

When she'd faced Hades, she thought she knew magical power. It couldn't compare to this. Kenpachi Zaraki might honestly match up against Master Makarov.

_Can't collapse._ She couldn't, wouldn't, loose this battle of wills. If Zaraki told her he didn't want to be summoned, she never would. But she'd earn his respect. Even if she had to drag every drop of power from within her.

The next three seconds seemed to last forever, but eventually Zaraki threw back his head and laughed, placing something around his head. An eyepatch, she realized.

The pressure ceased. Awareness returned. Only then did she noticed that everyone except for her and Laxus had collapsed to the ground. Her legs shaking, she couldn't help but be thankful when Laxus stepped behind her, hand firm on her back and keeping her grounded. Coated with sweat again, hands shaking from the effort, all she wanted was to take a nap.

"Alright brat, that's pretty good. Most can't stay standing in my presence, even when I'm at my most basic." Basic? How could such power ever be _basic?_ "You must be the Lucy the brat keeps going on about. Let's make things really clear; all I care about is fighting the strong. If you need me to do that, you can call on me. Otherwise, don't bother."

"Y-yes, alright." He grinned, laughing again. She closed his gate, not wanting to hold him long. Like Toshiro, after the initial summoning nothing pulled on her. Didn't change the fact that his single summoning cost her nearly all her magic. Never mind summoning the third seat with him, she could barely bring Zaraki over alone. Forget opening another gate.

"Blondie." She turned, legs still shaking. Laxus seemed a little paler than normal, but otherwise alright. Still, she could see the worry in his eyes, feel it in his stiffening arm at her back.

"I-I'm okay, I think." He raised a brow, clearly disbelieving. "Let me take a nap, an hour or two most," she conceded, "Then we can take off."

"Don't be ridiculous. We'll leave tomorrow." Beginning to protest didn't help matters when Bix groaned from the ground, only just pulling himself up. "Tomorrow," Laxus reaffirmed.

When, after taking a step, Lucy nearly collapsed and only stayed up thanks to Laxus slinging an arm around her waist, she had to admit she was glad for the reprieve.

* * *

That evening, when Lucy finally managed to drag herself around other people, she found herself in a peculiar situation.

That being everyone bowing to her.

Now, Lucy had grown up an Heiress to a very, very rich fortune. Bowing servants and socialites came with the territory. For a village of warriors who, she had thought, barely tolerated her presence due to her proven strength, it brought a very different feeling.

"Finally got up, I see." Turning, she found Laxus and the others spread across a table, everyone in the village keeping a respectful distance but doing nothing to hide the stares.

"I'm wonderful, thanks for asking." Bix laughed as she took a seat, Evergreen scooting to give her room next to Laxus. Despite Laxus's derisive snort, he didn't hesitate before piling her plate with food. She raised her brows at him, feeling amused despite herself. He always seemed to keep a step back from everyone, making it hard to get a read on him. And still, he did small things like this that told her he was actually a huge softie.

If only Natsu could see him now.

She slowed in her chewing, wondering at that thought. It had been a long time since she'd seen anyone on her team. Several months. Yet…

Lucy hadn't been thinking much about her team. Hadn't missed them much either. Maybe she could chalk it up to being used to being away from them since the year break. But if she let herself be honest, it probably had more to do with the fact that she hadn't really had a chance to sit still. Between traveling, talking with the Thunder God Tribe, training, and worrying over the Keys, she just didn't have enough time to be worried about her team when she knew they could all take care of themselves and would be just fine when they eventually came back together.

Perhaps, in a distant way, she missed some things. Natsu's infectious laugh, Gray's dry commentary, Erza steady presence. And yet…

And yet.

Bix and Ever continued bickering across the table, Freed happily ignoring them for once so he could talk with Laxus. Team Natsu picked on each other, and Gray and Natsu fought like siblings, but… the Thunder God Tribe felt more relaxed. More at peace. More settled into their roles.

It was nice to be around mature adults for once.

"Blondie, eat. You need your strength." Lucy jerked, knee smacking into the table and rattling the dishes as she came out of her thoughts. Laxus raised a brow, a nearly mocking slant to them. Despite that, she could see the concern in the downturn of his lips. Strange, how nearly a month together could make it easy to read someone so stoic. Lucy forced a bite into her mouth to appease him, even though she didn't want to eat any more.

Had she really reached the point that she didn't even miss her partners anymore?

No. No she missed them. _She did_. She just… felt a little bitter.

Natsu had abandoned her. And then he'd shown up out of the blue, demanded she come with him and she had because he was Natsu and if a single thing stayed true it was that Lucy Heartfilia would do anything for her friends. They'd fought Avatar together, had gathered Erza, and Juvia, and Gray. Had gotten Wendy and Carla back. They'd rebuilt the guild hall and then celebrated when Master Makarov showed up, five minutes after they'd filed the paperwork making Erza the new guild master. They'd been the first team to go on a mission.

And then new missions showed up, requesting specific mages and it just… dissolved. Only for a little while, she knew that. They'd gone on one big, S-class mission since the guild had gotten back together a few months ago.

It took twenty-one days to set a habit. One, four day long mission couldn't do that. And Lucy had been relying on herself for over a year now. _That _had become habit.

Lucy excused herself, citing exhaustion which wasn't a lie. Even now, Kenpachi Zaraki's tattoo tingled on her. Harsh, thick lines slashing a diamond around the number eleven. She wanted to sleep.

Perhaps her melancholy could be blamed on exhaustion.

* * *

The next morning, Laxus trailed near the back of the group, keeping an eye on Blondie. They'd be at Altair, the capital of Stella, by sunset. The mission seemed to be a simple retrieval of an artifact hidden in a dangerous area. They'd be done and on their way home within two days.

Meaning their time with Lucy was coming to an end.

It shouldn't matter. They'd known from the beginning that this wouldn't be long term. The rest of Team Natsu should be arriving back home at any moment, up in arms that their Celestial Spirit Mage—because Lucy _was _theirs—had disappeared, likely kidnapped by the Big Bad Thunder God Tribe. Laxus shuddered at the property damage that awaited them. Poor Jiji.

Yet he felt some… disappointment. So far, Lucy had proved herself capable, moment with the Vulcan aside. She added a new dynamic to their morning spars, and always helped Ever with the cooking. And she got along with everyone, falling into academic debates with Freed easily, teaming up with Ever to beat up Bix for some comment or other daily. If nothing else, he thought having another woman on the team evened things out. Perhaps, after she returned to Team Natsu, he could invite her to join them once or twice a year. Make it an annual thing. Ever would be happy to have the female company. The only issue would be getting her to agree, though Laxus thought she'd be up for it.

If she survived the trip, he thought a tad surly when he grabbed her just in time to stop her from falling into a pit.

"Oh. Thank you."

"Pay attention." The hole looked like a trap of some sort, with spikes at the bottom. They must be getting close to the city if they were stumbling upon hunter territory.

Blondie rolled her eyes, sticking out her tongue. It was the first show of character that'd come up since she'd woken this morning. He didn't know why she seemed so upset, though he suspected it had something to do with Zaraki. He was, after all, the one thing that'd changed in the past day.

Honestly, Laxus would never admit to it, but even he'd nearly passed out when the guy had been summoned. So much energy in one person… Laxus would bet on Jiji and Gildarts being the only ones who could defeat him. Perhaps Blondie was agonizing over barely being able to summon him?

He huffed a laughed at the thought. Even Blondie couldn't possibly be that self-deprecating. From what he gathered from Freed, even being able to summon two Zodiac Keys at once put a Celestial Spirit Mage at the next level when it came to power. And Laxus knew for a fact that Blondie could do three when pushed, never mind the back to back summons she managed on a daily basis. Celestial Mages were rare, and Laxus had only met a few, but that didn't stop him from being fairly certain Lucy Heartfilia was the strongest of her kind at the moment. Which made sense, her being a Fairy Tail mage. That automatically made anyone about a hundred percent better.

Lucy detracted herself from his hold, following behind the others. In the distance, Laxus could barely make out the sound of wheels clattering on stone. It seemed they'd arrived at Altair.

* * *

"So, a Lightning Dragon Slayer and Celestial-Spirit Mage walk into a crumbling temple-"

"I really hope you plan on being the punch line, Bix." Lucy huffed a laugh, following closely behind Laxus with the rest of the team bringing up the rear.

"Oh, come on. The client said, 'it's known to make adventurers disappear from the face of the planet'. Tell me this isn't the start to some joke."

"This isn't the start to some joke," they all chorused together, leaving Bix to mumble under his breath about being outnumbered.

Despite the jokes, Lucy couldn't help the wide eyes as she took in their surroundings. The temple reached towards the sky, a four sided pyramid with a flat top covered with an arch leading inside. Each piece of stone seemed to be covered with wet moss, leaving their footing unstable. As they explored, the walls became more and more decrepit, whatever paintings once existed destroyed by age.

"We're looking for an enchanted pitcher. Keep your eyes open, and watch your backs." Lucy hummed to Laxus, easing her way over some unstable ground.

"Love what they did with the place," Bix offered, poking a wall and watching as it turned to dust. "I'd suggest a little more color, maybe some air freshener."

"Great idea, Bix," Lucy offered, staring at the wall in front of her. There shouldn't be a wall here, the dimensions were off. "You should open an interior design company."

"Ya think? Maybe I'd call it _Bix's Quick Fix_."

"Truly a great name," Freed added, coming next to Lucy to stare at the wall as well. "Very trustworthy."

"Praise be to Mavis! When did you learn sarcasm?"

"Is there a reason," Ever threw in, "That you two are so fascinated by the wall?"

"Is it an accent wall?"

"Bix, shut up. To answer your question, Ever, this wall shouldn't be here. Considering how the place is laid out from the outside, there should be a few more feet here." Lucy leaned in, hands carefully tracing the side. She felt something, a seam maybe, hidden by dust. Silently bemoaning the state her nails would be in later, she scraped her nail down. Something rumbled through the walls, a click beneath her nails. Lucy barely had time to curse herself for an idiot before the wall swung around, taking her and dropping her on the other side, her own scream echoed by the call of her name from above.

* * *

**:)**


End file.
